50-Hertz Electromagnetic Fields Induce gammaH2AX Foci Formation in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos In Vitro1

Abstract

Effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on DNA damage in mammals are still controversial. In the present study, the effects of EMFs on DNA damage in preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro were investigated by using gammaH2AX foci formation, a new sensitive indicator for detecting DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). The data obtained demonstrated that EMFs decreased the cleavage rate of preimplantation mouse embryos. This decreasing effect of EMFs was related to the DNA-damaging effect indicated by the induction of gammaH2AX foci formation in preimplantation mouse embryos. The inducing effects of EMFs on gammaH2AX foci formation could be inhibited by the treatment of noise MFs or wortmannin, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) family inhibitor. Furthermore, the data obtained also showed that EMFs could activate the DNA damage-repair mechanism by recruiting repair factor Rad50 to the damaged DNA sites to repair the corresponding DNA damage. These findings suggest that EMFs could cause DNA damage in preimplantation embryos in vitro and that the adverse effects of EMFs on development might at least partly act through DNA damage. The DNA damage induced by EMFs could be at least partly repaired by the natural activation of DNA damage-repair mechanism or prevented by the simultaneous treatment of noise magnetic fields.

Differential effects of high and low strength magnetic fields on mouse embryonic development and vasculogenesis of embryonic stem cells

“…It was reported that the increases in apoptosis and necrosis in brain cells of rats exposed to MF could be related to free radical formation [117,118]. These observations are in conformity with Luo et al, who found that exposure to 50 Hz, 0.5 mT EMF induced DNA damage in pre-implantation mouse embryos, accompanied with a decrease in the cell cleavage rate of embryos [119].…”

Phosphorylated histone H2A.x in porcine embryos produced by IVF and somatic cell nuclear transfer

“…Despite its importance in DSB repair, H2AX139ph has not been thoroughly investigated during early-embryo development. Few reports have shown the presence of H2AX139ph during embryo development in mice (Luo et al 2006, Adiga et al 2007, Pacchierotti et al 2011, Xiao et al 2012 and rats (Barton et al 2007, Grenier et al 2012, but whether the occurrence of H2AX139ph is correlated with embryo development and quality has not been investigated. Moreover, there were no studies conducted to investigate whether the technologies used for in vitro embryo production affect the occurrence of H2AX139ph.…”

“…There are also a few studies that have reported the presence of H2AX139ph foci in mouse and rat embryos (Forand et al 2004, Luo et al 2006, Adiga et al 2007, Ziegler-Birling et al 2009, Wossidlo et al 2010, Grenier et al 2012. Interestingly, DNA damage has been shown to impair cellular reprogramming and reduce the efficiency of production of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (Marion et al 2009).…”

Attenuated oocyte fertilization and embryo development associated with altered growth factor/signal transduction induced by endometriotic peritoneal fluid

“…The method of two-cell embryo collection has been described previously elsewhere (24). In the second experiment, the apoptosis rate of embryos cultured in HTF medium alone or HTF medium containing PF-E (10%, 30%, or 50%) for 24 hours was assessed first.…”