title: Induction of apoptosis of liver cancer cells by nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs).
abstract: The application of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) is a novel method to induce the death of cancer cells. NsPEFs could directly function on the cell membrane and activate the apoptosis pathways, then induce apoptosis in various cell lines. However, the nsPEFs-inducing-apoptosis action sites and the exact pathways are not clear now. In this study, nsPEFs were applied to the human liver cancer cells HepG2 with different parameters. By apoptosis assay, morphological observation, detecting the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) and the expressions of key apoptosis factors, we demonstrated that nsPEFs could induce the morphology of cell apoptosis, the change in ΔΨm, [Ca2+]i and the upregulation of some key apoptosis factors, which revealed the responses of liver cancer cells and indicated that cells may undergo apoptosis through the mitochondria-dependent pathway after nsPEFs were applied.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Deyou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.|Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Chenguo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. tangliling@cqu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D004560:Electricity; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D053078:Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Calcium; Cellular morphology; Electric pulses; HepG2; Mitochondrial membrane potential