Effects of azidothymidine on protein kinase C activity and expression in erythroleukemic cell K562 and acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell HSB-2.

Azidothymidine (AZT) is one of the anti-retroviral drugs currently used for the treatment of HIV-infected patients. Several other effects of the drug have been studied in vitro, such as the alterations of some enzymes, the inhibition of cell proliferation, and the increase of transferrin receptor expression. In this study, we investigated the alterations of protein kinase C (PKC) activity, PKCα and PKCβII expressions and plasmatic membrane fluidity induced by AZT in two cancer cell lines, human chronic myeloid (K562) and human acute lymphoblastic (HSB-2) leukemia cells, respectively.

Inhibition of angiogenesis mediated by extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs).

The formation of new blood vessels is an essential therapeutic target in many diseases such as cancer, ischemic diseases, and chronic inflammation. In this regard, extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) seem able to inhibit vessel growth when used in a specific window of amplitude. To investigate the mechanism of anti-angiogenic action of ELF-EMFs we tested the effect of a sinusoidal magnetic field (MF) of 2 mT intensity and frequency of 50 Hz on endothelial cell models HUVEC and MS-1 measuring cell status and proliferation, motility and tubule formation ability.

Extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) induce in vitro angiogenesis process in human endothelial cells.

Effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on activation of angiogenesis were analysed using cultured umbilical human vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The cultures were exposed to a sinusoidal EMF to intensity of 1 mT, 50 Hz for up to 12 h. EMFs increased the degree of endothelial cell proliferation and tubule formation, coupled by an acceleration in the process of wound healing.

Improvements in technical assessment and protocol for EPR evaluation of magnetic fields effects on a radical pair reaction.

The effects of either static or pulsed magnetic fields on the reaction rate of Fremy's salt-ascorbic acid were studied directly by EPR spectroscopy. Radical pair mechanism (RPM) accounts for the magnetic field effects, but the expected amounts are so small that they need to be observed with particular care with EPR technique. The method is based on the resolution of a pair of EPR signals by the addition of a stationary field gradient, where the signals are coming from the exposed and control capillary sample.