Improved osteogenic differentiation by extremely low electromagnetic field exposure: possible application for bone engineering Author: Erica Costantini#1, Guya Diletta Marconi#2, Luigia Fonticoli3, Lisa Aielli3, Oriana Trubiani4, Thangavelu Soundara Rajan5, Jacopo Pizzicannella6, Marcella Reale#3, Francesca Diomede#3 Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, University &quot;G. d&#x27;Annunzio&quot;, Via deiVestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy. <sup>2</sup> Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University &quot;G. d&#x27;Annunzio&quot;, Via dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy. <sup>3</sup> Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University &quot;G. d&#x27;Annunzio&quot;, Via dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy. <sup>4</sup> Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University &quot;G. d&#x27;Annunzio&quot;, Via dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy. oriana.trubiani@unich.it. <sup>5</sup> Department of Biotechnology, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, 641021, India. <sup>6</sup> &quot;S.S. Annunziata Hospital&quot;, ASL 02 Lanciano-Vasto-Chieti, Via dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy. Conference/Journal: Histochem Cell Biol Date published: 2022 Jun 25 Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s00418-022-02126-9. , Word Count: 218 Human periodontal ligament mesenchymal stem cells (hPDLSCs) are a promising cell type model for regenerative medicine applications due to their anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and non-tumorigenic potentials. Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) are reported to affect biological properties such as cell proliferation and differentiation and modulate gene expression profile. In this study, we investigated the effects of an intermittent ELF-EMF exposure (6 h/day) for the standard differentiation period (28 days) and for 10 days in hPDLSCs in the presence or not of osteogenic differentiation medium (OM). We evaluated cell proliferation, de novo calcium deposition and osteogenic differentiation marker expression in sham and ELF-EMF-exposed cells. After ELF-EMF exposure, compared with sham-exposed, an increase in cell proliferation rate (p < 0.001) and de novo calcium deposition (p < 0.001) was observed after 10 days of exposure. Real-time PCR and Western blot results showed that COL1A1 and RUNX-2 gene expression and COL1A1, RUNX-2 and OPN protein expression were upregulated respectively in the cells exposed to ELF-EMF exposure along with or without OM for 10 days. Altogether, these results suggested that the promotion of osteogenic differentiation is more efficient in ELF-EMF-exposed hPDLSCs. Moreover, our analyses indicated that there is an early induction of hPDLSC differentiation after ELF-EMF application. Keywords: Bone; Human periodontal ligament stem cells; Low electromagnetic field; Osteogenic differentiation; Tissue engineering. PMID: 35751679 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-022-02126-9