Study of the effects of 0.15 terahertz radiation on genome integrity of adult fibroblasts

Abstract

The applications of Terahertz (THz) technologies have significantly developed in recent years, and the complete understanding of the biological effects of exposure to THz radiation is becoming increasingly important. In a previous study, we found that THz radiation induced genomic damage in fetal fibroblasts. Although these cells demonstrated to be a useful model, exposure of human foetuses to THz radiation is highly improbable. Conversely, THz irradiation of adult dermal tissues is cause of possible concern for some professional and nonprofessional categories. Therefore, we extended our study to the investigation of the effects of THz radiation on adult fibroblasts (HDF). In this work, the effects of THz exposure on HDF cells genome integrity, cell cycle, cytological ultrastructure and proteins expression were assessed. Results of centromere-negative micronuclei frequencies, phosphorylation of H2AX histone, and telomere length modulation indicated no induction of DNA damage. Concordantly, no changes in the expression of proteins associated with DNA damage sensing and repair were detected. Conversely, our results showed an increase of centromere-positive micronuclei frequencies and chromosomal nondisjunction events, indicating induction of aneuploidy. Therefore, our results indicate that THz radiation exposure may affect genome integrity through aneugenic effects, and not by DNA breakage. Our findings are compared to published studies, and possible biophysical mechanisms are discussed. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 59:476-487, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Detection and manipulation of methylation in blood cancer DNA using terahertz radiation

“…Demethylation using THz radiation might have a potential for use in clinical applications as an active demethylation technique; this method is a non-invasive, non-ionizing and non-labelling technique applied to DNA samples. Previous researches have reported that high-power THz radiation could occur the genomic instability 33 , cell division 34 , and chromosome activity 35,36 . Especially, Titova et al .…”

Cellular effects of terahertz waves

“…In Refs. 244 and 245 , when human skin fibroblasts (HFFF2 and HDF cell lines) were exposed, for 20 min, to the broadband pulse THz radiation, with the frequency of 0.1 to 0.15 THz, the pulse repetition rate of 21.1 to 26.3 kHz, the pulse duration of 50 ps, and the average irradiance of , authors observed aneuploidy effects, such as an increase in actin polymerization, chromosomal malsegregation, and micronucleus induction. Meanwhile, no signs of the DNA damage, such as expression of the corresponding proteins, phosphorylation of H2AX histone, and repair telomere length modulation, were noticed.…”

Molecular-Based Nano-Communication Network: A Ring Topology Nano-Bots for In-Vivo Drug Delivery Systems

“…Converting back to the stationary frame of reference, the final equation is obtained and the 3D solution can be seen in Eq. (11).…”

“…• Electromagnetic (EM) propagation • Molecular (MC) propagation In the electromagnetic approach, Terahertz (THz) frequencies, has been suggested for nano-bot to nano-bot communication [4]- [9]. However, the effects of electromagnetic radiation on living tissue can be considered a problem in implementing EM based nano-networks for use, even under the current safety limit of 1 mW/cm 2 [10], [11]. The effects on THz radiation in the human body is still an open question, however there are experimental analysis on other species that show DNA damage and induced anxiety under the influence of short term THz radiation [12]- [14].…”