Electromagnetic field affects the voltage-dependent potassium channel Kv1.3

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Theoretical and experimental evidences support the hypothesis that Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (ELF-EMF) can modulate voltage-gated channels. In this work we investigated the effect of ELF-EMF on K_v1.3, a member of the family of the voltage-gated potassium channels that is thought to be involved in key physiological functions, including the regulation of T-cells activation during the immune response.

Materials and methods

K_v1.3 expressing CHO-K1 cells were exposed to a 20 Hz electromagnetic field at two different intensities: 268 μT and 902 μT. K_v1.3 potassium currents were recorded by whole-cell patch-clamp before, during and after field exposure.

Results

We found that the K_v1.3 current was increased significantly by the ELF-EMF in a subpopulation of CHO-K1 cells. The increase developed after a few seconds from the start of exposure, reached a steady-state and took several minutes to return to the baseline after field removal.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that K_v1.3 may mediate interactions between ELF-EMF and living cells, disclosing new research opportunities on the molecular mechanisms with which electromagnetic fields affect physiological and pathological processes, including immunomodulation, inflammation and cancer.

KEYWORDS:

• Apoptosis
• cancer
• immunomodulation
• immunotherapy
• inflammation
• radiation

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. D. Pascoli for critically reading the manuscript and dr. M. Mahmud for the graphical tips and the useful discussions about the manuscript and the research topic in general.

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.