Intense picosecond pulsed electric fields induce apoptosis through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway in HeLa cells

Hua,Yuan-Yuan; Wang,Xiao-Shu; Zhang,Yu; Yao,Chen-Guo; Zhang,Xi-Ming; Xiong,Zheng-Ai

doi:10.3892/mmr.2012.780

Intense picosecond pulsed electric fields induce apoptosis through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway in HeLa cells

Authors:
- Yuan-Yuan Hua
- Xiao-Shu Wang
- Yu Zhang
- Chen-Guo Yao
- Xi-Ming Zhang
- Zheng-Ai Xiong
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Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, P.R. China, Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, P.R. China, State Key Laboratory Of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, P.R. China
Published online on: February 3, 2012 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2012.780
Pages: 981-987

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Abstract

The application of pulsed electric fields (PEF) is emerging as a new technique for tumor therapy. Picosecond pulsed electric fields (psPEF) can be transferred to target deep tissue non-invasively and precisely, but the research of the biological effects of psPEF on cells is limited. Electric theory predicts that intense psPEF will target mitochondria and lead to changes in transmembrane potential, therefore, it is hypothesized that it can induce mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. HeLa cells were exposed to psPEF in this study to investigate this hypothesis. MTT assay demonstrated that intense psPEF significantly inhibited the proliferation of HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner. Typical characteristics of apoptosis in HeLa cells were observed, using transmission electron microscopy. Loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential was explored using laser scanning confocal microscopy with Rhodamine-123 (Rh123) staining. Furthermore, the mitochondrial apoptotic events were also confirmed by western blot analysis for the release of cytochrome C and apoptosis-inducing factor from mitochondria into the cytosol. In addition, activation of caspase-3, caspase-9, upregulation of Bax, p53 and downregulation of Bcl-2 were observed in HeLa cells also indicating apoptosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that intense psPEF induce cell apoptosis through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway.

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