Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Antiproliferative effect of millimeter radiation on human erythromyeloid leukemia cell line K562 in culture: ultrastructural- and metabolic-induced changes med./bio.

By: Beneduci A, Chidichimo G, Tripepi S, Perrotta E, Cufone F

Published in: Bioelectrochemistry 2007; 70 (2): 214-220

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 53.57–78.33 GHz Exposure duration: repeated daily exposure, 1 h/day, every other day, for 7 days	power density: 1 µW/cm² mean

Frequency	53.57–78.33 GHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Charakteristic	far field
Exposure duration	repeated daily exposure, 1 h/day, every other day, for 7 days

Modulation type	cf. additional info
Additional info	microwave noise generator diode

Exposure source	horn antenna conical
Chamber	The irradiation was performed inside an incubator (47 x 58 x 47 cm³) at 37 °C.
Setup	The cells from a stock flask were seeded into culture dishes and irradiated from the bottom through a polystyrene base plate. The antenna was placed sufficiently near for the beam to cover the entire surface of the samples, but still at far field conditions.
Sham exposure	A sham exposure was conducted.
Additional info	Resonance phenomena due to reflections inside the incubator were excluded.

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
power density	1 µW/cm²	mean	-	-	-

Exposed system:

Investigated system:

Time of investigation:

Millimeter wave exposure induced a noticeable inhibition of the cell proliferation that could be related to ultrastructural changes (e.g. increase in the number of mitochondria). Such effects brought the exposed cell system to lose the homeostasis (and resulted in a high metabolic state).
Kinetic of glucose metabolism demonstrated that the exposed cells enhanced the glycolytic aerobic pathway, indicating that such system need to produce an extra-bioenergy. Most of the ATP synthesized served probably to perform the above processes resulting in a significant decrease of the proliferation rate without significant cell death increment.

Study character:

Beneduci A (2009): Evaluation of the potential in vitro antiproliferative effects of millimeter waves at some therapeutic frequencies on RPMI 7932 human skin malignant melanoma cells
Beneduci A et al. (2005): Frequency and irradiation time-dependant antiproliferative effect of low-power millimeter waves on RPMI 7932 human melanoma cell line
Beneduci A et al. (2005): Transmission electron microscopy study of the effects produced by wide-band low-power millimeter waves on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in culture
Chidichimo G et al. (2002): Selective inhibition of tumoral cells growth by low power millimeter waves
Szabo I et al. (2001): Reactions of keratinocytes to in vitro millimeter wave exposure