Abstract
ABSTRACT The biological effects of microwave(300MHz~300GHz) have remained contentious. This study considers the subject from the following two aspects: (1) the non-thermal effects of microwave, (2) the interference of non-thermal effects from microwave on cell repair process. We used two biological experiments colony assay and cDNA microarray to explain cell proliferation and gene expression after 2.45GHz, 4mW/cm2 microwave exposure at 37°C. Firstly, the colony assay experiment showed that cell proliferation decreased significantly after cell was exposed under microwave for 6 hours. The finding of cDNA microarray study indicated that 82 gene altered their gene expression after microwave exposure. Their major biological functions related to protein folding, phosphorylation, cell cycle, DNA replication, and nucleotide biosynthesis. Secondly, the study of colony assay revealed that microwave could interfere with cell repair process and thus decrease cell survival rate after damaged by UVB. Besides, the cDNA microarray study presented that 104 genes, which mostly command the genomic functions of regulation of transcription, phosphorylation, proteolysis, and metal ion transport were affected. Judging from the above, the non-thermal effects of microwave can influence cell proliferation and regulate parts of genomic functions.