This study explores the effects of power frequency magnetic fields (MF) on cell growth in prostate cancer, DU145, PC3, and LNCaP cells were examined in vitro. The cells were exposed to various intensities and durations of 60-Hz sinusoidal MF in combination with various serum concentrations in the media. To analyze MF effects on cell growth, cell counting, trypan blue exclusion assay, Western blot analysis, flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), fluorescence microscopy, and spectrofluorometry were used.
MF exposure induced significant cell growth inhibition and apoptosis in an intensity- and time-dependent manner, in which cell cycle arrest, cleaved Caspase-3, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased. Pretreatment with a Caspase-3 inhibitor or antioxidant, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), significantly attenuated MF-induced cell growth inhibition and cell death. Media replacement experiments failed to show any notable change in the MF effects.
Conclusions. These results demonstrate 60-Hz sinusoidal MF-activated cell growth inhibition of prostate cancer in vitro. Apoptosis together with cell cycle arrest were the dominant causes of the MF-elicited cell growth inhibition, mediated by MF-induced ROS. These results suggest that a possibility of using 60-Hz MF in radiation therapy of prostate cancer could usefully be investigated.
Eui Kwan Koh, Byung-Kyu Ryu, Dong-Young Jeong, Iel-Soo Bang, Myung Hee Nam & Kwon-Seok Chae (2008) A 60-Hz sinusoidal magnetic field induces apoptosis of prostate cancer cells through reactive oxygen species, International Journal of Radiation Biology, 84:11, 945-955, DOI: 10.1080/09553000802460206
