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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mol. Neurosci.
Sec. Molecular Signalling and Pathways
Volume 18 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2025.1534324
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular Mechanisms of Mental Disorders: The Contribution of Genetic and Environmental Factors View all 3 articles
The CB1R of mPFC is involved in anxiety-like behavior induced by 0.8/2.65 GHz dual-frequency electromagnetic radiation
Provisionally accepted
Bin Sun 1
Teng Xue 2 Anning Gao 1 Xinyu Wang 1 Shuang Wu 1 Xiaoman Liu 1 Lihui Zhang 1 Menghua Li 1 Dongfang Zou 1 Yan Gao 3*
Changzhen Wang 1*- 1 Laboratory of Bioelectromagnetics, Beijing Institute of Radiation and Medicine, Beijing, China
- 2 Songjiang Research Institute, Songjiang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 3 Center of Cognition and Brain Science, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
As mobile phones and communication base stations become more widespread, concerns have arisen regarding the potential risks of environmental exposure to multi-frequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and its effects on mental health. To address these concerns, our study established a dual-frequency EMR mouse model at 0.8/2.65 GHz to explore potential molecular mechanisms and intervention targets. Our results revealed that exposure to this dual-frequency EMR significantly induced anxiety-like behavior in mice. Molecular experiments further showed a significant decrease in cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the mice, along with a notable reduction in the endogenous cannabinoids 2-arachidonoylglycerol and anandamide. This led to a downregulation of the entire endocannabinoid system (ECS). Additional confirmation was obtained by overexpressing and knocking down CB1R in the mPFC. We found that increasing mPFC CB1R levels could effectively reduce anxiety-like behavior, while decreasing mPFC CB1R levels exacerbated it. Furthermore, we found dual-frequency EMR induced the change of ECS in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Notably, female mice exhibited similar behavioral phenotypes and molecular mechanisms in response to dual-frequency EMR. In summary, our study demonstrates that anxiety induced by dual-frequency EMR is closely linked to the function of the ECS in the mPFC and BLA, and that CB1R expression in the mPFC plays a significant role in modulating emotional behavior in mice.
Keywords: anxiety-like behavior, endocannabinoid system, Medial prefrontal cortex, amygdaloid nucleus, Cannabinoid receptor type 1
Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Xue, Gao, Wang, Wu, Liu, Zhang, Li, Zou, Gao and Wang. 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:
Yan Gao, Center of Cognition and Brain Science, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Changzhen Wang, Laboratory of Bioelectromagnetics, Beijing Institute of Radiation and Medicine, Beijing, China
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