The Influence of Burst-Firing EMF on Forskolin-Induced Pheochromocytoma (PC12) Plasma Membrane Extensions

Trevor N Carniello,Robert M Lafrenie,Blake T Dotta

doi:10.3390/neurosci2040028

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells treated with forskolin provides a model for the in vitro examination of neuritogenesis. Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), especially those which have been designed to mimic biological function, can influence the functions of various biological systems. We aimed to assess whether exposure of PC12 cells treated with forskolin to patterned EMF would produce more plasma membrane extensions (PME) as compared to PC12 cells treated with forskolin alone (i.e., no EMF exposure). In addition, we aimed to determine whether the differences observed between the proportion of PME of PC12 cells treated with forskolin and exposed to EMF were specific to the intensity, pattern, or timing of the applied EMF. Our results showed an overall increase in PME for PC12 cells treated with forskolin and exposed to Burst-firing EMF as compared to PC12 cells receiving forskolin alone. No other patterned EMF investigated were deemed to be effective. Furthermore, intensity and timing of the Burst-firing pattern did not significantly alter the proportion of PME of PC12 cells treated with forskolin and exposed to patterned EMF.

Highlights

Pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells can be induced to produce plasma membrane extensions that have been previously characterized to exhibit morphological and physiological features similar to those of peripheral neurons [1,2,3,4]
Results of Experiment #1–Exposure to spatially-rotated, Burst-firing electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on induced PC12 plasma membrane extensions: PC12 cells treated with 0.5 μM forskolin and exposed to a spatially-rotated Burst-firing EMF for 1 and 3 h showed a significantly greater proportion of PME compared to cells exposed to sham conditions 3 and 6 days following treatment (Figure 1)
The exposure of PC12 cells to Burst-firing EMF in combination with forskolin increased the proportion of PME as compared to PC12 cells treated with forskolin alone

Summary

Introduction

Pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells can be induced to produce plasma membrane extensions that have been previously characterized to exhibit morphological and physiological features similar to those of peripheral neurons [1,2,3,4]. Treating PC12 cells with various neurotrophic factors, such as NGF, has been shown to promote survival and differentiation as measured by the production of plasma membrane extensions typified as neuronal projections [7,8,9,10]. Treatment of PC12 cells with forskolin, a diterpine that can promote activation of cAMP levels, has been shown to reliably produce neuron-like projections [7,8,9,16,17,18,19,20]. Based on Zhang and colleagues [21] findings, it was hypothesized that different forms of electromagnetic radiation (e.g., weak, patterned electromagnetic fields) may promote or neurite outgrowth

Objectives

Methods

Results