Electromagnetic fields induce reactive oxygen species generation and differentiation of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells through epidermal growth factor receptor in vitro. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Even though the inducing effect of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the neural differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) is a distinctive, the underlying mechanism of differentiation remains unclear. To find out the signaling pathways involved in the neural differentiation of BM-MSCs by EMF, we examined the CREB phosphorylation and Akt or ERK activation as an upstream of CREB. In hBM-MSCs treated with ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 1 mT), the expression of neural markers such as NF-L, MAP2, and NeuroD1 increased at 6 days and phosphorylation of Akt and CREB but not ERK increased at 90 min in BM-MSCs. Moreover, EMF increased phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as an upstream receptor tyrosine kinase of PI3K/Akt at 90 min. It has been well documented that ELF-MF exposure may alter cellular processes by increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations. Thus, we examined EMF-induced ROS production in BM-MSCs. Moreover, pretreatment with a ROS scavenger, N-acetylcystein, and an EGFR inhibitor, AG-1478, prevented the phosphorylation of EGFR and downstream molecules. These results suggest that EMF induce neural differentiation through activation of EGFR signaling and mild generation of ROS.