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Extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation enhanced energy metabolism and induced oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans

SUN Yong-Yan^1,2,3,4, WANG Ya-Hong^1,2,3, LI Zhi-Hui^1,2,3, SHI Zhen-Hua^2,5, LIAO Yan-Yan^1,2,3, TANG Chao^1,3, CAI Peng^1,3,6,*

¹Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China；²University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China；³Xiamen Key Laboratory of Physical Environment, Xiamen 361021, China；⁴College of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China；⁵College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China；⁶Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on energy metabolism and oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Worms in three adult stages (young adult stage, egg-laying stage and peak egg-laying stage) were investigated under 50 Hz, 3 mT ELF-EMF exposure. ATP levels, ATP synthase activity in vivo, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and changes of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were detected, and worms’ oxidative stress responses were also evaluated under ELF-EMF exposure. The results showed that ATP levels were significantly increased under this ELF-EMF exposure, and mitochondrial ATP synthase activity was upregulated simultaneously. In young adult stage, worms’ ROS level was significantly elevated, together with upregulated TAC but with a decreased ROS-TAC score indicated by principal component analysis. ROS level and TAC of worms had no significant changes in egg-laying and peak egg-laying stages. Based on these results, we concluded that ELF-EMF can enhance worm energy metabolism and elicit oxidative stress, mainly manifesting as ATP and ROS level elevation together with ATP synthase upregulation and ROS-TAC score decrease in young adult C. elegans. 

Key words: Energy metabolism; oxidative stress; electromagnetic field; C. elegans

Received: 2018-08-23　　Accepted: 2019-01-19

Corresponding author: 蔡澎　　E-mail: pcai@iue.ac.cn; pcai@sibs.ac.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2019.0030

Citing This Article：

SUN Yong-Yan, WANG Ya-Hong, LI Zhi-Hui, SHI Zhen-Hua, LIAO Yan-Yan, TANG Chao, CAI Peng. Extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation enhanced energy metabolism and induced oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans. Acta Physiol Sin 2019; 71 (3): 388-394 (in Chinese with English abstract).