Competition between N–H bending vibration and α-helix polarization under 50 Hz magnetic field in SH-SY5Y neuronal-like cells

The aim of this study is to investigate the causes of the different response of Amide I and Amide II bands in neuronal-like cells under an applied magnetic field at extremely low frequency and intensity. A Lumos IR microscope of Bruker Optics coupled with a FTIR spectrometer equipped with a wide-band liquid nitrogen cooled mercury–cadmium–telluride detector were used to acquire images and FTIR spectra of SH-SY5Y neuronal-like cells under exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields at the intensity of 1.4 mT, generated by two Helmholtz coils driven by an AC voltage and placed into an incubator in a 5% CO2/95% air humidified at 37 °C. Using this experimental setup resulted that the Amide II vibration band in neuronal-like cells increased significantly more than Amide I band after 6 h exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields. This result can be explained assuming that the following mechanisms occurred simultaneously after exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields: the alignment of proteins α-helices in cellular membrane toward the direction of applied magnetic field and a significant increasing of N-H bending vibration in proteins structure.