The effect of electromagnetic fields with magnetic flux density of 0.6 and 1.2 mT on the expression of miR-584-5p in gastric cancer cell line

Introduction: Electromagnetic fields as an environmental factor can play a role in preventing or promoting cancer. MicroRNAs (miRs) are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and act as oncogenes or tumour suppressors. miR-584-5p is known as a tumour suppressor gene, and its increased expression has been observed in gastric cancer. This study was done to investigate the expression changes of miR-584-5p in the AGS cell line under the exposure of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF). Materials & Methods: AGS cells were exposed to different electromagnetic fields continuously and intermittently (2 hours on/2 hours off) for 18 hours. Real-time PCR technique was used to evaluate the expression changes of miR-584-5p. Descriptive and analytical tests were performed using SPSS V.23, and a significance level of 5% was considered. Results: The results showed that the level of miR-584-5p increased a lot when exposed to continuous electromagnetic wave irradiation at strengths of 0.6 (3.7±0.3, P<0.05) and 1.2 mT (7.9±0.4, P<0.05). Additionally, a notable rise in miR-584-5p levels was also seen with discontinuous electromagnetic wave irradiation at strengths of 0.6 (2.7±0.6, P<0.05) and 1.2 mT (6±0.4, P<0.05) compared to the control. Also, a significant increase in miR-584-5p expression was observed under discontinuous electromagnetic wave irradiation with intensities of 0.6 (2.7±0.6, P<0.05) and 1.2 mT (6±0.4, P<0.05) compared to the control. Conclusion: Given how important miR-584-5p is for processes like cell death, development, spreading, growth, and movement in different cancers, along with how its levels change due to electromagnetic waves in stomach cancer cells, this miRNA could be a target for treatment using magnetic waves as an additional therapy.