Effect of the Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Radiation on Transcriptomic Profile of Pig Myometrium during the Peri-Implantation Period—An In Vitro Study

Abstract

The electromagnetic field (EMF) affects the physiological processes in mammals, but the molecular background of the observed alterations remains not well established. In this study was tested the effect of short duration (2 h) of the EMF treatment (50 Hz, 8 mT) on global transcriptomic alterations in the myometrium of pigs during the peri-implantation period using next-generation sequencing. As a result, the EMF treatment affected the expression of 215 transcript active regions (TARs), and among them, the assigned gene protein-coding biotype possessed 90 ones (differentially expressed genes, DEGs), categorized mostly to gene ontology terms connected with defense and immune responses, and secretion and export. Evaluated DEGs enrich the KEGG TNF signaling pathway, and regulation of IFNA signaling and interferon-alpha/beta signaling REACTOME pathways. There were evaluated 12 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DE-lnc-RNAs) and 182 predicted single nucleotide variants (SNVs) substitutions within RNA editing sites. In conclusion, the EMF treatment in the myometrium collected during the peri-implantation period affects the expression of genes involved in defense and immune responses. The study also gives new insight into the mechanisms of the EMF action in the regulation of the transcriptomic profile through lnc-RNAs and SNVs.

Keywords

• electromagnetic field
• next-generation sequencing
• RNA editing sites
• lncRNA
• myometrium
• pig