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Pigmentation effect of electromagnetic fields at various intensities to melanocytes

  • Original Article
  • Cell Biology
  • Published:
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Melanogenesis is the biological process that results in the synthesis of skin pigment of melanin and it has various functions in living systems and is synthesized by the melanosome within the melanocytes. A variety of physical treatments are used to promote melanin production in the melanocytes for pigmentation control. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intensity-dependent effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) on melanogenesis by melanocytes in vitro. Melanocytes were exposed to ELF-EMFs at a frequency of 50 Hz and at intensities in the range of 0.5–20 G over 4 days. The results of lactate dehydrogenase assay showed that there were no significant differences between cells exposed to 0.5 G or 2 G groups and the controls. The melanin contents increased 1.2–1.5-fold in cells exposed to ELF-EMFs and tyrosinase activity increased 1.3-fold in cells exposed to ELF-EMFs, relative to the controls. Also, exposure to ELF-EMFs was associated with activation in cyclic-AMP response element binding protein and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) was up-regulated. Up-regulation of MITF induces the expression of melanogenesis-related markers, such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)-1, TRP-2. In conclusion, the present study showed that the exposure to ELF-EMFs at low intensities can stimulate melanogenesis in melanocyte, and these results may be used to a therapeutic devices for inducing repigmentation in vitiligo patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biotechnology (BK21 Plus Team), Dongguk University, 32 Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, 10326, Korea

    Sang-Eun Cho, Yu-Mi Kim, Jung-Keug Park & Young-Kwon Seo

  2. Graduate School of Bio and Information Technology, Hankyong National University, Anseong, Korea

    Soo-Chan Kim

  3. R&D Center, NOWCOS, Seoul, Korea

    Kye-Hong Kang

Authors
  1. Sang-Eun Cho
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  2. Yu-Mi Kim
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  3. Kye-Hong Kang
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  4. Soo-Chan Kim
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  5. Jung-Keug Park
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Correspondence to Young-Kwon Seo.

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Cho, SE., Kim, YM., Kang, KH. et al. Pigmentation effect of electromagnetic fields at various intensities to melanocytes. Tissue Eng Regen Med 13, 560–567 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-016-0090-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-016-0090-2

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