Electric fields stimulate DNA synthesis of mouse osteoblast‐like cells (MC3T3‐E1) by a mechanism involving calcium ions

Abstract

A cell culture system was designed to study the effect of an electric field on bone cells. This system subjected cultured bone cells to a series of high-voltage pulses at varying amplitudes of electric field without changing the ion concentrations of the culture medium. When mouse osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3-E1) were stimulated for 5 min to 20 hr by an electric field (3.19 kV/m, 3 msec, 10 Hz pulses), DNA synthesis was greatly increased. The stimulation occurred only during the growth phase. The electric field also increased incorporation of ⁴⁵Ca into the cells, but it did not stimulate cAMP production. Adding calcium ionophore A23187 stimulated both ⁴⁵Ca uptake and DNA synthesis, but dibutyryl cAMP did not stimulate either of them. These results suggest that the electric field stimulates the DNA synthesis of growing osteoblasts by a mechanism involving calcium ions.