2.45 GHz Radiofrequency fields alter gene expression in cultured human cells

The biological effect of radiofrequency (RF) fields remains controversial. We address this issue by examining whether RF fields can cause changes in gene expression. We observed that 221 genes altered their expression after a 2-hour exposure. The number of affected genes increased to 759 after a 6-hour exposure. Functional classification of the affected genes reveals that apoptosis-related genes were among the up-regulated ones and the cell cycle genes among the down-regulated ones. We observed no significant increase in the expression of heat shock genes. These results indicate that the RF fields at 2.45 GHz can alter gene expression in cultured human cells through non-thermal mechanism. Keywords: gene expression SAGE We used the pulsed RF fields at a frequency of 2.45 GHz that is commonly used in telecommunication to expose cultured human HL-60 cells. We used the SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression) method to measure the RF effect on gene expression at the genome level.