Biophysical and Medical Aspects of Electromagnetic Cellular Interactions

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Biophysical and Medical Aspects of
Electromagnetic Cellular Interactions

• Michal Cifra

Bioelectromagnetic Coherence Group Institute of
Photonics and Electronics Academy of Sciences of
the Czech Republic
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Necessary conditions forelectromagnetic
interaction between the cells

• Cells have to be able to
• generate electromagnetic field
• receive/detect electromagnetic field
• react to the received/detected electromagnetic
  field

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Generation of electromagnetic field
Acceleration of electric charge Most common
oscillation
Electromagnetic radiation (electric field) of
oscillating electric charge
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Generation of biological electromagnetic field
Hz THz region

1. Mechanical oscillations of ions and electrically
   polar biomolecular structures
2. Chemical reactions involving nuclear/electron
   spin
3. Oscillation of electrons in structures supporting
   electronic conduction microtubules, DNA,
   coherent water domains ?

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Microtubules (MT)

• Microtubules (in vivo) fulfill all conditions for
  generation of electromagnetic field
• Electrically highly polar structures
• Energy supply
• GTP hydrolysis
• Motor protein movement
• Released wasted energy for from mitochondria
• Vibration modes in kHz GHz region
• Nonlinear structures (mechanical anisotropy,
  strong static electric field from mitochondria)

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Generation of biological electromagnetic field
optical region

1. Endogenous biological luminescence
2. Multiphoton and collective processes (energy
   upconversion) ?

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Biological electromagnetic field properties

• In order for biological EM field to be effective
  in cell-cell interaction
• Intensity higher than thermal noise
• Necessary and sufficient conditions
• Energy supply metabolic sources
• Damping of the oscillatory process is low
• Coherence lt-gt orderliness ?
• Importance of coherence enables efficient energy
  and information transfer

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Physical mechanism of generation of cellular
electromagnetic field
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Experimental evidence of endogenous cellular
electromagnetic fields
Direct measurement
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Experimental evidence of endogenous cellular
electromagnetic fields - dielectrophoresis

• Metabolically active cells attract or repulse
  µm-sized dielectric particles

particles
particles
cell
cell
eP permittivity of particle eS permittivity
of surrounding medium (water based solution)
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Experimental evidence of endogenous cellular
electromagnetic fields - dielectrophoresis

• Metabolically active cells attract or repulse
  µm-sized dielectric particles

Dielectrophoretic effect of alga Monoraphidium
griffithii a
Dielectrophoretic effect of alga Netrium digitus b
a - Hölzel, R. Lamprecht, I. Electromagnetic
fields around biological cells, Neural Network
World, 1994, 3, 327-337 b - Rivera, H. Pollock,
J. K. Pohl, H. A. The AC field patterns about
living cells, Cell Biophysics, 1985, 7, 43-55
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Experimental evidence of endogenous cellular
electromagnetic fields - dielectrophoresis

• All cells under test manifest this effect
  (bacteria (B. Cereus), fungi (S. Cerevisiae),
  algae, avian (chicken erythrocytes), mammalian
  (mouse fibroblasts),) a
• Effect present only in metabolically active cells
  (tested with NaN3, etc.) b

• Effect most pronounced around cells in mitosis
  according to number of attracted particles b
• EM field of cells in kHz - MHz region b

a - Pohl, H. A. Natural oscillationg fields of
cells, Coherent Excitation in Biological Systems,
Springer, Berlin Heidelberg - New York, 1983,
199-210 b - Pohl, H. A. et al., Life cycle
alterations of the micro-dielectrophoretic
effects of cells, Journal of Biological Physics,
1981, 9, 133-154
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Detection of electromagnetic fields by cells
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Detection of weak EM fields by cells
kT problem Thermal noise has an average energy
of kT. At a room temperature (20 OC), kT 26
meV, which is the energy of a single EMF quantum
with a frequency of 6.2 THz and a wavelength of
48 um in a vacuum). There is always great number
of thermal photons and phonons in the frequency
range from 0 Hz to infrared, so how can be the
addition of few more photons (weak EM field)
detected by cells ? Signal / Noise ratio ltlt
1 kT is a real problem in systems where
particles are moving randomly (incoherently) and
where all degrees of freedom are strongly coupled
(standard approach of statistical physics).

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Strongly coupled degrees of freedom (modes) High
damping (overdamped motion)
Number of photons/ phonons in system
Thermodynamic equlibrium value of number of
photons/phonons for system at temperature T
frequency
Incoming signal at single frequency
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Detection of weak EM fields by cells

• Means of how to overcome low Signal/Noise (S/N)
• X receivers coupled together X.S/N (requirement
  for ensamble of cells (tissue) to be coupled)
• Averaging of over period of time T T1/2.S/N
• Stochastic resonance (in nonlinear systems)
  addition of noise increases efficient S/N !
  known in biophysics
• 4. Receiver has to be able to store (concentrate
  ) the energy in certain degree of freedom
  (frequency)
• i.e. the (oscillatory) process has to have low
  damping
• i.e. sufficiently low coupling to other degrees
  of freedom
• In technical physics metal antennas, low damping
  resonator circuits, circuit arrays, high purity
  artificial materials, cooling to low temperatures

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Weakly coupled degrees of freedom (modes) low
damping (high quality resonating process,
underdamped)
Number of photons/ phonons in system
Thermodynamic equlibrium value of number of
photons/phonons for system at temperature T
frequency
Incoming signal at single frequency
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Detection of weak EM fields by cells

• Which structures/processes are able to support
  energy concentration, accumulation by resonance
  ?
• electron spin chemistry (free radicals), nuclear
  spin chemistry, natural magnetic nanoparticles
• cellular oscillators (microtubules, membranes /
  ion cyclotron resonance, solitons) ?
• Great amount of experimental evidence on resonant
  weak EM field effects on biological / aqueous
  systems.
• Hard to obtain definite experimental evidence on
  basic physical mechanisms in work.

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Electromagnetic cellular interactions
Observation of nonchemical interactions of cell
cultures. Standard scheme of the experiments
INDUCER a source of EMF - a cell culture
undergoing or stimulated to undergo some
process DETECTOR a cell culture detecting and
reacting to the EMF from inducer SEPARATOR
ensures a chemical separation of the cell
cultures and determines transmitted spectrum to
find out which part of EMF spectrum is involved
in interactions
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Modern evidence on cellular electromagnetic
interactions

• Few books (Kaznacheev), chapters in books from
  IIB conferences
• Number of papers from 1980 on (including
  separate book chapters) 30
• Reviews 3x Trushin, 1xNikolaev, 1xWainwright
• Many types of cells
• Fungi (yeast cells, Gaeumannomyces graminis),
  bacterial cells (E. Coli, Pseudomonas, B.
  subtilis), pollen grain, seeds (Raphanus savitus,
  radish)
• mammalian fibroblasts (3T3), neutrophils,
  erythrocytes, whole blood, osteoblasts, colon
  cancer cells, mammary gland explants, Hela, Hep2,
  BHK
• Whole organisms unicellular ciliate Paramecium
  caudatum, daphnia, termites, moths, lovebugs,
  marine plants, loach embryos, fireflies,
  dinoflagellates
• Organelles mitochondria

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Modern evidence on cellular electromagnetic
interactions

• Effects observed or transferred (trough EM field)
  from inducer to detector
• growth rate, germination rate, development,
  proliferation, polarization of growth, division
  rate, morphological developmental changes
• mutual orientation, attraction, motility,
  rolleau formation kinetics (erythrocytes)
• protein secretion, lipid peroxidation, O2-
  generation, energy uptake and consumption
• synchronized photon emission, increased photon
  emission
• transfer of effect of physical, chemical of
  biological agens from inducer to detector (mirror
  cytopathic effect) HgCl2, H2O2, viruses
  Coxsackie A13 and fowl pest, high dose UV
  irradiation, neutron bombarding

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Modern evidence on cellular electromagnetic
interactions
Spectrum of interactions (number of
papers) Ambient light conditions usually
poorly defined !!! Cross-specie
interactions Budagovski(2007) blood -gt radish
seeds Kaznacheev - 12 cell types various
combination tested general conclusion that the
transfer of cytopathic effect from inducer to
detector via EM field is most efficient between
the same cell culture types) Dependence on
coherence Budagovskii (2007) Reduction of the
spatial coherence of the EM cellular signal
reduces efficiency of the EM interactions
UV Visible IR Not specified UV excluded (glass separ.) (quartz separator)
6 1 4 11 4 5
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Modern evidence on cellular electromagnetic
interactions
Cross-specie interactions, Kaznacheev (1981 book)
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Annual dependence of cellular electromagnetic
interactions
Annual dependence, average 12000 experiments, 11
years Kaznacheev (1981 book)
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Take away message 1

• Cells are
• source of kHz-THz electromagnetic field
  evidence in small number of works
• source of optical electromagnetic field proven
• coherence, orderliness not directly proven, but
  indirect indications

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Take away message 2

• Cells can react to weak external EM field lot
  of diverse experimental evidence
• search for evidence of energy accumulating/storing
  process
• Cells can interact through their EM field some
  amount of evidence for optical region
• search for proofs of proposed theoretical
  mechanism and for new mechanisms

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Thank you for attention