Nat Comm | Pan Yongxin/Guo Weixiang's collaborative team reveals that sub-magnetic field exposure weakens adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive function in mice​

Responsible Editor | Geomagnetic field (GMF) is accompanied by the origin and evolution of life on Earth.
It protects the Earth's biosphere from solar wind and other high-energy cosmic rays.
It is the "protective umbrella" for life on Earth.

Studies have shown that: in the long-term evolution, bacteria and many animals have evolved the ability to use the geomagnetic field to orient and navigate, including the human brain can also sense changes in the geomagnetic field.

It is not clear whether animals depend on the geomagnetic field for growth and development.

With the development of deep space exploration, such as future travel and residence on the moon and Mars, humans may need to be exposed to extremely weak magnetic fields for a long time.
It is necessary to evaluate the impact of extremely weak magnetic fields on human activities.

Therefore, the impact of extremely weak magnetic field environment on animal nervous system is an important scientific issue of common concern for geophysicists and biologists.

Usually the extremely weak magnetic field with a magnetic field strength of less than 5 μT is called a hypomagnetic field (HMF).

Previous studies have found that exposure to sub-magnetic fields affects the cognitive process of animals.

However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which sub-magnetic field exposure affects the cognitive process of animals are still unclear.

The hippocampus tissue in the mammalian brain plays an important role in the cognitive functions of animals, such as learning and memory.
The hippocampus tissue can continue to produce new neurons after the animal reaches adulthood (this process is called adult hippocampal neurogenesis).
Neurons have strong plasticity, can be integrated into existing neural circuits and participate in the regulation of various cognitive functions such as learning and memory.Adult hippocampus neurogenesis is affected by various factors of animal physiology and environment.
Geomagnetic field is one of the important environmental factors for the survival of life on earth.
The study on the impact of its weakening on neurogenesis will evaluate the exposure of the biosphere including humans to sub-magnetic fields.
The influence and coping strategies provide important scientific basis; and the determination of the effect of geomagnetic environmental factors on adult hippocampal neurogenesis can provide a valuable reference for understanding the comprehensive functions of the adult brain.

Recently, Nature Communications published online the research results of the research team of Academician Pan Yongxin of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Researcher Guo Weixiang of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology on long-term sub-magnetic field exposure attenuating adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive function in mice The title of the thesis is Long-term exposure to a hypomagnetic field attenuates adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition.

Zhang Bingfang, a doctoral student in the Geomagnetic Field and Biosphere Evolution Discipline Group of the Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his supervisor, Professor Pan Yongxin, Tian Lanxiang, associate researcher, Joint Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, researcher Guo Weixiang, etc.
Interdisciplinary research methods to carry out systematic research on the effects of long-term HMF exposure on adult hippocampal neurogenesis in mice.

Studies have found that long-term submagnetic field exposure can inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of adult neural stem cells, and affect the dendritic development of hippocampal neonatal neurons, which in turn leads to defects in hippocampus-dependent learning and cognition.

Through transcriptome analysis and combined with endogenous ROS in situ labeling, it is found that long-term HMF exposure reduces the level of endogenous ROS in adult neural stem cells.

However, the restoration of cellular ROS levels through drug intervention can save the adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive deficits caused by long-term HMF exposure.

In addition, returning mice exposed to long-term submagnetic fields into GMF significantly improved their adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition, accompanied by an increase in ROS levels.

However, the improvement effect of GMF return field can be blocked by reducing the level of ROS.

In summary, this study confirmed the relationship between geomagnetism/submagnetic field, ROS and adult hippocampal neurogenesis at the animal level for the first time, confirmed that the biological effects of submagnetic field are time-cumulative, and revealed that geomagnetic field is in the adult hippocampus of mice.
The importance of neurogenesis, at the same time, provides a new understanding of the neurobiological effect mechanism of sub-magnetic field, and provides a reference strategy for medical intervention of sub-magnetic field biological effect.

Doctoral student Zhang Bingfang is the first author of the paper, and associate researcher Tian Lanxiang and researcher Guo Weixiang are the co-corresponding authors.

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