Up-regulation of miR-144 and miR-375 in the human gastric cancer cell line following the exposure to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields.

PURPOSE: Recently, therapeutic effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) as complementary and alternative medicine, used in the oncology field to control disease symptoms. Micro RNAs (miRs) are responsible for the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in the cell. This study aimed to evaluate the expression changes of miR-144 and miR-375 in the human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS) under the exposure of ELF-EMF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: AGS cells were exposed to magnetic flux densities of 0.2 and 2 mT for 18 h, continuously and discontinuously (1.5 h on/1.5 h off). Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. Changes of miR-144 expression levels in AGS cells immediately after exposure and 18 and 36 h after the exposure cut-off was calculated by QRT-PCR. RESULTS: The cell viability of AGS cells was decreased under the exposure of 0.2 and 2 mT EMFs when compared to the control. Up-regulation of miR-144 and miR-375 were observed in AGS cells under the exposure of magnetic fields. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the miR levels were significantly decreased 18 and 36 h after finishing the exposure, but not reached the normal range. The results of this investigation indicated that weak and moderate intermittent 50 Hz ELF-EMFs can induce changes in miRNA expression.