ELF MAGNETIC-FIELDS AND PROTEIN-CHANGES IN MOUSE SKELETAL-MUSCLE

The second generation of female OF1 mice exposed chronically to an ELF field of 50 Hz and 15 mu T (rms), generated in a Helmholtz coil syste m, was studied to determine the possible protein changes in the skelet al muscle associated with this exposure. Animals were sacrificed at th e age of 14 weeks, and their quadriceps skeletal muscles were studied by electron microscope immunocytochemistry to detect the possible chan ges in different proteins. Actin, myosin, desmin, and vimentin immunol abeling was found to be similar in both control (unexposed) and experi mental (exposed) animals. Dystrophin was found to increase in the sarc oplasmic reticulum in the exposed animals with respect to the control ones. a-Actinin was found to increase in some damaged Z-bands of the e xperimental animals; troponin and calmodulin increased all along the s arcomere of the muscles of the exposed mice, whereas titin and nebulin immunoreactions decreased in the sarcomeres of the experimental group . The observed changes in these proteins should affect the contraction process.