Developmental abnormality induced by strong static magnetic field in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Understanding the effects of strong static magnetic fields (SMFs) on living organisms is significant in health risk assessment, but underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In the present study, we determined developmental abnormalities induced by 8.5Tesla (T) SMFs in a well-established in vivo model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Exposure of C. elegans eggs to 8.5 T SMF resulted in a time-dependent lifespan decrease, whereas only slight changes were observed upon exposure to 5 T SMF. Although SMF exposure did not alter brood size, development rate and stages were significantly modified by 8.5 T SMF. Germ cell apoptosis dramatically increased upon exposure to 8.5 T SMF in adult worms, as confirmed by ced-3 and ced-4 mutants, and could be prevented by concurrent treatment with a free radical scavenger, dimethyl sulfoxide. Compared to wild-type worms, shorter lifespan and greater numbers of apoptotic cells were observed in abnormal methyl viologen sensitivity-1 (mev-1(kn1)) nematodes with increased sensitivity to oxidative damage. Furthermore, exposure to 8.5 T SMF increased expression of superoxide dismutase-3 (sod-3), which is thought to protect against oxidative stress. However, 8.5 T SMF had minimal effects on lifespans of daf-2 and daf-16 mutants, which have compromised insulin/IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factors-1) mediated signaling pathways; this finding was consistent with the expression of these genes in wild-type worms. Our results indicate that developmental toxicity induced by strong SMF in C. elegans is mediated by oxidative stress and may be regulated by the insulin-like receptor pathway.

Glucose increases the lifespan of post-reproductiveC. elegansindependently of FOXO

“…Body length was measured as previously described 71,72 with some modifications. Worms were fed with normal or HGD upon hatching and harvested after 60 hours.…”

Human Exposures to Rare Earth Elements: Present Knowledge and Research Prospects

“…As summarized in Table 5, the biological effects of magnetic fields (MF) have been investigated since early studies [87] and a body of literature is available on the adverse outcomes of MF exposures in animal, plant and in vitro studies [88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104]. These effects were observed also independently of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation [94], a well-established feature of iron toxicity and also detected for REEs [21].…”

“…These effects were observed also independently of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation [94], a well-established feature of iron toxicity and also detected for REEs [21]. The available information on the effects of magnetic fields is mainly focused on extremely low frequency magnetic fields [98], whereas static magnetic fields have been focused with relatively lesser investigations [99][100][101][102][103][104].…”

Strong static magnetic field delayed the early development of zebrafish

“…In addition, researchers have observed multifarious and sometimes contradictory results. While some reported that strong SMF did not exert severe effects on the development of Xenopus laevis (6.34 T for 6 and 18 h or 8 T for 20 h) [2–4] or mice (1.5 and 7 T, 75 min each day during the entire pregnancy, or 4.7 T exposure from 7.5 to 9.5 day of gestation) [5,6], others observed obvious side effects, including the altered cleavage plane (1.7–16.7 T exposure from fertilization to the third cleavage) [7,8] or cortical pigmentation (9.4 T exposure from 15 to 109 min) [9] in Xenopus eggs, retarded development and aberrant gene expression in Xenopus embryos (15 T exposure from uncleaved to 2-cell, 2-cell to blastula and blastula to neurula) [10], shortened lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans (8 T for 1, 3 and 5 h) [11], delayed hatching in mosquito eggs (9.4 and 14.1 T exposure for 70–163 h) [12], reduced viability in mouse fetuses (1.5 T exposure for 30 min) [13] and so on. These studies provided valuable information about the effects of strong SMF on development.…”

“…Our research data provide insights into how strong SMF influences the developing organisms through basic physical interactions with intracellular macromolecules. Xenopus eggs, retarded development and aberrant gene expression in Xenopus embryos (15 T exposure from uncleaved to 2-cell, 2-cell to blastula and blastula to neurula) [10], shortened lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans (8 T for 1, 3 and 5 h) [11], delayed hatching in mosquito eggs (9.4 and 14.…”