Hippocampal transcriptomic profiling of mice after acute sub-thermal 2.65 GHz radiofrequency radiation exposure

We performed bulk RNA sequencing on hippocampal tissue from male C57BL/6N mice immediately after a single 3-h exposure to 2.65 GHz continuous-wave RFR at a whole-body average specific absorption rate (SAR) of 5.9 W/kg (maximum core-temperature rise <0.6 °C), with sham-exposed mice as controls (n=5 per group).

A total of 2133 differentially expressed genes (1033 up-regulated and 1100 down-regulated; DESeq2, p value <=0.05, |log2FoldChange|>=0.0) were identified. Gene Ontology and KEGG enrichment revealed prominent perturbation of postsynaptic-organization, cognition and learning-related terms, as well as circadian entrainment, calcium-signaling and synaptic pathways. Protein-protein interaction analysis placed calcium-signaling genes (Cacna1a, Cacna1c, Cacna1i, Cacna2d1, Cacng3, Grin2a and Ryr2) at core network nodes, and independent qPCR validated down-regulation of Cacna1c (encoding the L-type CaV1.2 alpha1C subunit), Cacna2d1 and Grin2a.