Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2016; 8(10): 342-354
Published online Oct 26, 2016. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v8.i10.342
Model acupuncture point: Bone marrow-derived stromal stem cells are moved by a weak electromagnetic field
Artem N Emelyanov, Marina V Borisova, Vera V Kiryanova
Artem N Emelyanov, Laboratory of High Laser and Magnetic Technology, North-Western State Medical University, 191015 St. Petersburg, Russia
Marina V Borisova, Training Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
Vera V Kiryanova, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, North-Western State Medical University, 191015 St. Petersburg, Russia
Author contributions: Emelyanov AN designed the research; Emelyanov AN and Borisova MV performed the research; Emelyanov AN, Borisova MV and Kiryanova VV analyzed the data; Emelyanov AN and Kiryanova VV wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the North-Western State Medical University Institutional Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the North-Western State Medical University (IACUC protocol number: 6).
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest exists.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Artem N Emelyanov, PhD, Senior Researcher, Laboratory of High Laser and Magnetic Technology, North-Western State Medical University, Kirochnaya street 41, 191015 St. Petersburg, Russia. ean-6868@mail.ru
Telephone: +7-964-3273960
Received: June 18, 2016
Peer-review started: June 21, 2016
First decision: July 4, 2016
Revised: July 23, 2016
Accepted: September 7, 2016
Article in press: September 8, 2016
Published online: October 26, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: On the basis of the literature, we propose the simplest possible model of an acupoint. This model that allowed us to move bone marrow-derived stromal stem cells (BMSCs) using magnetic fields (MFs) without any magnetised nanoparticles. This is a newly identified property of BMSCs, which may be involved in the formation, maintenance and regeneration of tissues and organs. The associated movements of BMSCs may occur via acupoints, and the meridian system may thus control the processes of structural regeneration and be the most ancient regulatory system. Not until the cells become MF amplifiers (resonators) can MFs move the cells. That is possible within our acupoint model.