Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Do Not Affect Cell Growth, Erythroid Differentiation, and Virus Production in Variant Lines of Untreated and Dimethyl Sulfoxide-Treated Friend Erythroleukemia Cells

Abstract

We compared the effects of exposing to low-frequency (50 Hz) sinusoidal electromagnetic fields (EMF) (magnetic field amplitude of 200 μT) four variant Friend erythroleukemia (FL) cell lines with regard to their capacity to proliferate, synthesize hemoglobin (Hb), and produce virus proteins, before and after treatment with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Our results confirm previous data indicating that: (1) clonal FL cells are variable in their growth, differentiation, and viral properties; (2) erythroid differentiation and virus production are under separate control; (3) cell replication is apparently necessary for virus production. When FL cells were exposed to EMF, no significant difference was observed in cell counts, induction of Hb synthesis, or virus production and release, comparing untreated and EMF-treated cell cultures.