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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Reproducible 3D Glioblastoma Migration Assay with Magnetic Nanoparticle Mediated Spheroid Localization Under Hypoxic Conditions
Published on: May 12, 2026
Static magnetic fields affect cell size, shape, orientation, and membrane surface of human glioblastoma cells, as
Laura Teodori1, Maria C Albertini, Francesco Uguccioni
1Unità di Biotecnologie, Sezione di Tossicologia e Scienze Biomediche, ENEA Centro ricerche Casaccia, Via Anguillarese 301, 00060 Rome, Italy. teodori@casaccia.enea.it
Background:
It is common knowledge that static magnetic fields (SMF) do not interact with living cells; thus, fewer studies of SMF compared with variable magnetic fields are carried out. However, evidence demonstrated that SMF affect cellular structures. To investigate the effect of exposure to increasing doses of SMF on cell morphology, human glioblastoma cells were exposed to SMF ranging between 80 and 3,000 G (8 and 300 mT).
Methods:
Cell morphology of human glioblastoma cells, derived from a primary culture, was studied by electron and optic microscopy. FITC-phalloidin staining of actin filaments was also investigated. Finally, cell surface structure changes were detected by atomic force microscopy.
Results:
Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated a dose-dependent cell shape modification, progressive cell detachment, loss of the long villi, and appearance of membrane roughness and blebs. FITC-phalloidin staining confirmed the villi retention and cell dimension decrease. At 3,000 G, the appearance of apoptotic morphology was also observed by transmission electron microscopy. Cell exposed to SMF showed different orientation and alignment when compared with nonexposed cells. The atomic force microscopy of the exposed cells' membrane surfaces demonstrated the disappearance of the ordered surface ripples and furrows typical of the unexposed cells, and the occurrence of surface membrane corrugation at increasing dose exposure
Conclusions:
Our experimental procedures demonstrated that exposure to SMF affects not only cell size, shape, and orientation but also human glioblastoma cells' membrane surfaces.
