ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Signaling
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1579121
This article is part of the Research TopicComputational Strategies in Analyzing Cell Signaling Networks: Applications and InnovationsView all articles
Single-Cell Analysis Reveals the Spatiotemporal Effects of Long-Term Electromagnetic Field Exposure on the Liver
Provisionally accepted
Mingming ZhangZhichun LvLingping ZhaoQuan ZengYunqiang Wu
军年 ZhouJiafei Xi
Xuetao Pei
Haiyang Wang*
Changyan LiWen Yue- Beijing institute of radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
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Background: Artificial electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can impair the functions of several organs. The impact of long-term artificial EMF on the liver, the synthetic and metabolic center of the body, has become concerning. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the effect of long-term EMF exposure on the liver. Methods: Mice were exposed to 2.45 GHz EMF daily for up to 5 months, and serum liver function test, lipidomic analysis, and histological analysis were performed to detect the general impact of EMF on the liver. Furthermore, EMF-induced liver transcriptome variations were investigated using single-cell RNA sequencing and a spatiotemporally resolved analysis. Results: Different hepatic cells exhibited diverse sensitivities and response patterns. Notably, hepatocytes, endothelial cells, and monocytes showed higher sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation, with their lipid metabolic functions, immune regulation functions, and intrinsic functions disturbed, respectively. Moreover, transcriptomic alterations were predominantly observed in the hepatocytes and endothelial cells in peri-portal regions, suggesting a zonation-related sensitivity to EMF within the liver. Conclusions: Our study provided a spatiotemporal visualization of EMFinduced alterations in hepatic cells, which ultimately elucidated the biological effects of EMF exposure.
Keywords: electromagnetic field, Liver function, Single-cell transcriptome, Hepatic zonation, Single-Cell Analysis
Received: 18 Feb 2025; Accepted: 10 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Lv, Zhao, Zeng, Wu, Zhou, Xi, Pei, Wang, Li and Yue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Haiyang Wang, Beijing institute of radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
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