Do static or time‐varying magnetic fields in magnetic resonance imaging (3.0 T) alter protein–gene expression?—A study on human embryonic lung fibroblasts

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on gene expression in embryonic human lung fibroblasts (Hel 299). The cells were exposed to the static magnetic field and to a turbo spin-echo sequence of an MR scanner at 3.0 Tesla. An MR group (exposed) and a control group (sham-exposed) were set up using a special MR-compatible incubation system. The exposure time was two hours. Gene expression profiles were studied using a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) microarray containing 498 known genes involved in transcription, intracellular transport, structure/junction/adhesion or extracellular matrix, signaling, host defense, energetics, metabolism, cell shape, and death. No changes in gene expression were found in either group (exposed or sham-exposed cells) at the end of a two-hour exposure for any of the 498 tested protein genes. The results suggest that MRI has no influence on protein-gene expression in eugenic human lung cells.