Orientation-dependent effects of a 1 mT static magnetic field on HT22 neural cell proliferation

This study examines how the vertical orientation of a moderate-intensity static magnetic field (1 mT) influences the proliferation of HT22 mouse hippocampal cells. Static magnetic fields (SMFs) offer potential for biomedical applications due to their ability to influence cellular processes in a non-invasive manner. However, their effects on neural cell proliferation remain poorly understood, particularly with respect to magnetic field orientation. Cells were exposed to SMFs in two orientations: downward and upward. SMF exposure was associated with significantly higher proliferation relative to both incubator and sham controls, with the downward orientation producing the most consistent increase. This trend was observed across multiple experimental conditions, including exposure duration and antibiotic use. Ion substitution experiments further showed that replacing extracellular K⁺ with Cs⁺ attenuated the orientation-dependent response, suggesting that ion conductance may contribute to SMF sensitivity. These findings emphasize the importance of magnetic field orientation in low-intensity SMF studies and indicate that directional exposure can modulate neural cell proliferation under well-controlled conditions.