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In Vitro Effects of Cellular Phone Electromagnetic Fields at 940 MHz on the Structure and Half-Life of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone

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Abstract

The biological effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation (EMF) are of high importance in biological and health studies. This study aimed to find out these effects on the structure and function of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). The rhGH was exposed to uniform mobile phone 940-MHz EMFs for 45 min and then characterized by circular dichroism (CD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. The half-life of this protein in plasma has been measured by ELISA after exposure to the EMFs. The CD spectra indicated significant changes in the secondary structure of the hormone (two negative peaks at 208 and 222 nm). These changes in the secondary structure of the treated rhGH were found irreversible as there were no significant differences in the CD spectra of the samples measured at first day and 45 days afterwards. The DLS analysis showed about 27% increase in the protein size compared to that of control. The biological activity as measured by half-life of the rhGH in plasma showed a sevenfold decrease after 25 min. The injection of the radiated protein into mice had shown a significant decrease in the weight gain compared to that of control. These findings approved irreversible disruptive changes in the structure and function of the rhGH upon exposure to the EMF.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support of Malek-e-Ashtar University of Technology (Tehran). The proof editing by Hamyarapply (Tehran, Iran) is greatly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek‐Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Mohammadpour-Aghdam, Ahmad Molaeirad & Azadeh Azizi

  2. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bio-Electromagnetic Laboratory, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Faraji-Dana

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  1. Mehdi Mohammadpour-Aghdam
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  2. Ahmad Molaeirad
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  3. Reza Faraji-Dana
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  4. Azadeh Azizi
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Correspondence to Ahmad Molaeirad.

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Mohammadpour-Aghdam, M., Molaeirad, A., Faraji-Dana, R. et al. In Vitro Effects of Cellular Phone Electromagnetic Fields at 940 MHz on the Structure and Half-Life of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Sci 44, 641–649 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40995-020-00891-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40995-020-00891-7

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