Body structure and bioelectromagnetic waves
Exposure of cells and tissues to electric and electromagnetic fields can lead to various changes in various physiological functions. These changes are due to the interaction between various biological, chemical and electrical (magnetic) fields and processes.
Contrary to popular belief, changes at the cellular and tissue level caused by the application of electric or electromagnetic fields are not necessarily a health risk. In fact, many new therapeutic techniques and clinical methods to treat diseases benefit from the application of appropriate fields.
Bioelectromagnetism is a field of study that investigates and understands the interactions between electromagnetic fields and biological systems. This field involves the study of electric or electromagnetic fields produced by cells, tissues, or living organisms, including microorganisms. In humans, these interactions relate to the potential effects of external electromagnetic sources on internal biological, chemical, and electromagnetic processes.
Therefore, bioelectromagnetism is a science that combines the knowledge of biology and medicine with the understanding of electromagnetism derived from mathematics, physics, and engineering.
Short-term electrical events called action potentials occur in different types of animal cells, which are excitable cells. Neurons, muscle cells, endocrine glands and also some plant cells are included in this category of cells. In cells, action potentials are used to facilitate communication and activate various intracellular processes.
cell
The cell is the basic unit of life. Human cells are structures that are surrounded by an endo cell membrane. This cell membrane separates the cytoplasm from the extracellular material.
The internal structure of a cell depends on its functional nature and has various types of complex organelles. The size and shape of a cell largely depends on its type and function. For example, nerve cells are cylindrical, while muscle cells are spindle-shaped. Stem cells are spherical and red blood cells are disk shaped.
Intracellular and extracellular spaces are mainly formed from salt water solutions. These salt solutions, which are also called body water, make up about 45 to 75 percent of the total weight of a person’s body. The difference in this percentage is mainly due to the difference in the amount of fat tissue in people’s bodies. About two-thirds of the water in the body is related to the intracellular fluid (cytosol), which is the water solution in the cytoplasm.
The remaining 30% of body water is extracellular fluid, which includes interstitial fluid and plasma. Interstitial fluid surrounds all cells and acts as a link between blood and cells, essential for the exchange of nutrients and waste products. The salinity of these solutions depends on the presence of mineral salts and charged ions, the most important of which are sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-1) and calcium (Ca+2).
cell membrane
The cell membrane is a 5-10 nm thick structure that surrounds the cell and separates it from the surrounding environment. The cell membrane is composed of lipid molecules and proteins. Membrane lipids are called phospholipids. These molecules are amphiphilic, meaning they have a hydrophilic polar end and a hydrophobic nonpolar end. Their hydrophilic end has the ability to absorb water molecules.
On the contrary, their hydrophobic ends are repelled by water molecules. Therefore, phospholipids must be assembled in such a way that their hydrophilic ends are exposed to water and their hydrophobic ends are away from water molecules. One of the ways to achieve this goal is to form a double-layered structure with the hydrophilic ends facing the water and the hydrophobic ends of the phospholipid molecules inside.
Due to the presence of hydrophobic edges at the edges, the planar bilayer tends to curve and form a sealed enclosure, the cell.
All biological membranes contain proteins. The weight ratio of protein to fat ranges from 3.6 in the mitochondrial membrane to 0.25 in the myelin membrane. Membrane proteins, depending on their location on the membrane, include the following:
regional
Partial penetration into the membrane
A transmembrane protein with a membrane-spanning segment
Lipid bound border
The most important type of membrane proteins are transfer proteins. These types of proteins facilitate the movement of ions, molecules, and other proteins across the membrane and create a channel through which the extracellular fluid communicates with the cytoplasm. Other important membrane proteins are glycoproteins involved in cell-cell interactions and globular proteins involved in regulatory processes.
The cell membrane not only limits the cell, but also plays an important role in all internal metabolic processes due to its permeability to water and charged ions. Water passes through the membrane by special membrane transport proteins called aquaporins. The cell membrane regulates the osmolarity of the cell through these proteins. The concentration difference on both sides will lead to water flow along the membrane.
The cell membrane also regulates the tonicity of the cell, which is the movement of water along the membrane due to the difference in the concentration of impermeable particles in the intracellular and extracellular space. As a result, cells change volume and can swell or shrink due to water flow across the membrane to balance the difference in particle concentration.
In addition, cell membranes regulate cytoplasmic pH by controlled activation of specific protein channels or ion pumps that alter the concentration of hydrogen ions. This process helps maintain the pH between 7.0 and 7.5, at which all biochemical functions take place.
Intracellular pH changes affect cellular metabolic functions.
Cell membrane potential
A potential difference can be seen on both sides of cell membranes. This potential difference is called the cell membrane potential or, in the case of excitable cells, the resting membrane potential. Cytoplasm is usually negatively charged relative to the extracellular fluid because it contains proteins, organic polyphosphates, nucleic acids, and other ionized substances that cannot penetrate the cell membrane.
Most of these impermeable intracellular ions are negatively charged. Surrounding the outer surface of the cell membrane is the outer positive zone, and it consists of a denser zone of mobile cations, consisting mainly of sodium, calcium, and a small amount of potassium. Since the concentration of positive charges on the outer surface of the cell membrane is greater than the concentration of positive charges on the inner surface of the cell membrane, there is an electric potential across the cell membrane.
You may be asking at this point, if a shell of positively charged inorganic ions surrounds the outer surface of the cell membrane, how are the cell surfaces considered electronegative? The answer lies in the existence of the outermost electronegative region created by the glycocalyx. The glycocalyx is the outermost electronegative region composed of negatively charged sialic acid molecules and cell membrane glycoproteins and glycolipids that extend outward like the branches of a tree.
The outermost negative area is separated from the positive surface of the cell membrane by a distance of about 20 micrometers. According to Charman, “It is this outermost constant negative region that causes each cell to act as a negatively charged body, creating a negatively charged field around itself that affects any other charged body in its vicinity. These sialic acid residues It is a cell cover (glycocalyx) that has a negative charge and gives a negative potential to each cell.
Since the negatively charged electric field around cells is created by sialic acid residues, any factor that increases or decreases the amount of sialic acid will change the degree of negativity of the cell surface. Cancer cells have more sialic acid molecules in their cell envelope, and as a result, cancer cells have more negative levels. Therefore, one of the reasons why enzyme therapy can be useful in cancer treatment is that certain enzymes can remove sialic acid residues from cancer cells and reduce the negativity of their levels.
Assume that the potential of the extracellular side is zero. Resting potential measurements always show a few tens of millivolts negative. The value of the resting potential depends on the size of the cell. A large cell will have a larger potential difference between the intracellular and extracellular environment, while a small cell will have a small potential difference. The resting potential has been measured from -35 to -90 mV in different cells of different species.
The minus sign is a convention that indicates that the intracellular environment has a negative charge. Such a negative charge is the result of the activation of negative chlorine ions (Cl-1) in the resting state against positive sodium (Na+) and calcium (Ca+2) ions. By decreasing the negative membrane potential, the cell is depolarized. Conversely, as the membrane potential becomes more negative, the cell becomes hyperpolarized. Controlled activation of ion pumps is essential in excitable cells such as neurons and muscle cells because many metabolic functions and behaviors depend on the generation and transmission of action potentials at an adequate rate.
The temporary flow of ions in the direction of concentration creates an action potential and causes changes in signaling and switching pathways. For example, communication between nerve cells depends on the action potential that propagates across the cell membrane of the nerve cell. In a striated muscle fiber, the action potential propagates rapidly across the cell surface, leading to simultaneous contraction of the muscle.
Disorder in the concentration of ions on both sides of the cell membrane can cause serious problems in the functioning of the body. For example, any change in the concentration of potassium (K+) in the extracellular fluid affects the resting membrane potential of all cells.
texture
Cells with similar structure and function are placed together and form tissues. Tissues are the basic unit of organs that perform most of the biological functions of the human body. There are four main types of tissue: epithelial tissue, skeletal tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue.
Epithelial tissue:
Epithelial tissue consists of cells that are closely spaced and connected to each other and cover the external surfaces of the body and various cavities inside the body. This tissue is made up of cells that are placed next to each other and create a layered appearance in that tissue. Although it does not have vascular drainage, it has the ability to regenerate in this tissue due to the continuous replacement of cells. The role of epithelial tissue is mainly protective. It removes mucus and dust, allows the diffusion and absorption of substances, and ultimately helps the production and disposal of products.
Backing fabric:
Supporting tissue is composed of cells that are found in abundant intercellular material. The intercellular substance contains two types of fibrous proteins. One is collagen, which gives strength and elasticity to the intercellular substance, and the other is elastin, which gives more elasticity to this substance. This tissue contains different types of specialized cells that are usually located in fibers and are differentiated into connective tissue, cartilage, and bone.
Muscle tissue:
There are three types of muscle tissue. The cells of this type of tissue accumulate in the form of fibers that are covered by connective tissue and contain blood vessels. There are three types of muscle tissue: smooth muscle tissue, which mainly lines walls, such as the walls of blood vessels and the digestive tract, cardiac muscle tissue (myocardium), found only in the walls of the heart, and skeletal muscle tissue, which is found in skeletal muscles and consists of Relatively long cylindrical muscle fibers have lines.
Nervous tissue:
This tissue is composed of neurons and neuroglia. Neurons are cells that have branches. These cells specialize in the production and transmission of nerve impulses. Neuroglia support neurons, insulate and feed them.
Cells and electromagnetic field
The development, maintenance and reproduction of a biological system is largely based on intracellular and intercellular communication. This communication allows a single cell to interact with neighboring cellular systems as well as with its environment.
Nowadays, many biological functions of cells are explained by the movement of ions (Ca+2, H+ pumps and cell voltage sensors) and their effect on small signaling molecules. Levin (2007) showed that direct current electric fields generated by ion channels (specifically for H+, K+, and Ca+2) generate specific signals that regulate cell behavior during embryonic development, normal tissue cycling, and regenerative repair. they adjust
Nature endogenously (via ion channels) uses the generated direct current electric field as a fast information carrier, as these fields adequately fill the information gap between molecules and the effects of distant external factors (such as temperature and radiation). . Bioelectric fields are considered essential for short-range intracellular communication.
The frequency of electromagnetic fields in the body is usually in the very low frequency (ELF) range. These electromagnetic fields include nerve tissue and heart action potentials, skeletal muscle vibrations, and frequencies resulting from the rhythmic activity of other body tissues. All biological systems, from the molecules inside the cell to the cell itself as a single entity and the tissues that make up the organisms’ organs and bodies, are always affected by time-varying magnetic fields.
The role of the cell membrane
The movement of charges and ions through membrane bound channels creates a weak electromagnetic field in each cell. However, in an organ such as the brain, at any given time, there may be as many as one million cells (106) firing coherently to produce a specific action.
This coherent neuronal firing of cells produces electromagnetic fields significantly greater than any individual cell. Each cell (not just neurons) generates a membrane potential that is specific to the type of cell and tissue it is a part of and also depends on its degree of differentiation.
Not only small ions such as protons, sodium or potassium, but also larger biomolecules such as tissue factors, growth hormones, transmitters such as serotonin, etc. are involved in creating an electric field. Almost all of these factors, in addition to their chemical function and activity through their receptor, also participate in the processes with their electrical charges.
All these factors transmit information not only within the cell but also to neighboring cells. The electric field generated due to the membrane potential is perhaps the first general biological information system.
The role of microtubules
Microtubules are part of the cytoskeleton and are composed of tubulin. They are found in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells (prokaryotic cells do not have microtubules) and perform a variety of functions from transport to structural support. Microtubules are part of the cytoskeleton that give structure and shape to the cell and also act as a conveyor belt to move other organelles in the cytoplasm. In addition, microtubules are the main components of cilia and flagella structures and are involved in the formation of spindle fibers during cell division (mitosis).
The physical properties of microtubules meet all the requirements of electromagnetic field generation: they are electrically polarized, nonlinear, and excited by a power source. There are various mechanisms to supply the energy needed to induce polar vibrations in them. This energy is provided by the hydrolysis of GTP to ATP as well as the energy released by mitochondria. Photons released by chemical reactions can also provide the necessary energy in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength range.
The role of photons
Photon is the basic unit of energy that can be considered as a wave-particle. The energy of a photon has an inverse relationship with its wavelength, and it can be calculated with the following equation: E = h.c/A, where E is the energy, h is Planck’s constant, c is the speed of light, and A is the wavelength of the photon. Numerous studies and experiments have shown that almost all living systems emit some level of photons. In biological systems, many chemical reactions that are carried out in different mechanisms emit photons. Photon emission has been recorded in many studies, from cell cultures to brain sections.
Mitochondria are well-known structures inside cells that are thought to emit photons through chemical reactions that take place in the presence of oxygen.
Mitochondria play an important role in many cellular functions such as: energy production, growth, aging and even communication. All related results and studies on photon emission from cells and metabolic reactions show how common these emissions are among living systems. Inside and outside the cell there is a continuous bath of photon radiation whose wavelengths are around infrared, visible and ultraviolet waves and these waves affect the neighboring cells.
