Invest Clin 64(4): 441 - 450, 2023 https://doi.org/10.54817/IC.v64n4a1
Correspondence author: Qun Zhao, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine (Group 1, 4th Treatment Area), Af-
filiated Hospital of Beihua University, Jilin, China. Email: zrx202102bh@163.com
Effects of focused ultrasound on human
cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro.
Yanbin Liu1, Qun Zhao2, Panpan Liu3, Yanbin Li3, Li’an Yi4 and Haiping Yan4
1Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Affiliated Hospital of Beihua University, Jilin,
China.
2Department of Cardiovascular Medicine (Group 1, 4th Treatment Area), Affiliated
Hospital of Beihua University, Jilin, China.
3Department of Ultrasonic Medicine, Qingdao West Coast New Area Traditional Chinese
Medicine Hospital (Qingdao Huangdao District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital),
Qingdao, China.
4Department of Health Management Section, Qingdao West Coast New Area Traditional
Chinese Medicine Hospital (Qingdao Huangdao District Traditional Chinese Medicine
Hospital), Qingdao, China.
Keywords: focused ultrasound; cervical cancer; HeLa cell line; in vitro effects.
Abstract. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common malignant tumor
in women. Many studies have confirmed that early childbirth, prolificacy, HPV
infection, and smoking are some risk factors. This article explored the effects
of exposing human cervical cancer HeLa cells to different focused ultrasound
intensities in vitro. The study employed three groups of cells: 1- a high-intensity
treated group, 2- a low-intensity treated group, and 3- a control group. Results
showed that after 12 hours of focused ultrasound treatment, the growth inhibi-
tion rate of the low-intensity group was 55.6% higher than that of the control
group, and the growth inhibition rate of the high-intensity group was 41.2%
higher than that of the low-intensity group. Therefore, focused ultrasound had
a specific inhibitory effect on the growth of HeLa cells, and the higher the
intensity of focused ultrasound, the higher the inhibition rate on cancer cells.
In addition, the Cycle Threshold (Ct) values of the three groups of cells before
treatment were the same, but the Ct values after treatment had changed. The
Ct value of the low-intensity group was 18.1% lower than that of the control
group, and the Ct value of the high-intensity group was lower than that of the
low-intensity group by 27.8%, showing that focused ultrasound can effectively
reduce the activity of HeLa cells in vitro.
442 Liu et al.
Investigación Clínica 64(4): 2023
Efectos del ultrasonido focalizado sobre células HeLa de cáncer
cervical humano in vitro.
Invest Clin 2023; 64 (4): 441 – 450
Palabras clave: ultrasonido focalizado; cáncer de cuello uterino; línea celular HeLa;
efectos in vitro.
Resumen. El carcinoma de cuello uterino es el cuarto tumor maligno más
común en las mujeres. Muchos estudios han verificado que el parto prematu-
ro, la prolificidad, la infección por VPH y fumar son algunos de los factores de
riesgo. El propósito de este artículo fue investigar los efectos del tratamiento
con diferentes intensidades de ultrasonido focalizado sobre células HeLa de
cáncer de cuello uterino humano in vitro. Este estudio utilizó tres grupos de
células HeLa: 1- un grupo de tratamiento con alta intensidad, 2- un grupo de
tratamiento con baja intensidad y 3- un grupo control. Los resultados mostra-
ron que después de 12 horas de tratamiento con ultrasonido focalizado, la tasa
de inhibición del crecimiento del grupo de baja intensidad fue 55,6% más ele-
vada que la del grupo control y la tasa de inhibición del crecimiento del grupo
de alta intensidad fue 41,2% más elevada que la del grupo de baja intensidad.
Por lo tanto, el ultrasonido focalizado tiene un efecto inhibitorio sobre el cre-
cimiento de células HeLa, y cuanto mayor sea la intensidad del ultrasonido
focalizado, más elevada será la tasa de inhibición de las células cancerosas. Ade-
más, los valores del Umbral de Ciclos [Cycle Threshold (Ct)] de los tres grupos
de células eran los mismos antes del tratamiento, pero estos valores tuvieron
cambios evidentes después del tratamiento. El valor del Ct del grupo de baja
intensidad fue 18,1% inferior al del grupo de control y el valor del Ct del grupo
de alta intensidad fue 27,8% más bajo que el del grupo de baja intensidad; lo
que demuestra que el ultrasonido focalizado puede reducir la actividad de las
células HeLa in vitro.
Received: 23-08-2022 Accepted: 01-08-2023
INTRODUCTION
Cervical cancer is the most common
malignant tumor of the reproductive organs
in women. Based on the statistics, more
than 500,000 new cervical cancer cases oc-
cur yearly; about 5% of all new cancer pa-
tients and more than 80% live in developing
countries 1. Many studies have confirmed
that sexual disorders, oral contraceptives,
bisphenol A, early sexual life, nutritional
factors, premature birth, fertility, human
papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and smok-
ing contribute to the pathogenesis 2,3. Zhang
et al. investigated the relationship between
HPV16 E6 and E7 protein expression and
telomerase in cervical cancer carcinogen-
esis. The results showed that these proteins
and telomerase increase gradually with the
progression of cervical cancer 4. Sufficient
and improved screening programs to detect
this kind of cancer increase the knowledge
about its relation with HPV, reducing disease
cases in developed countries 5.
Patients may have no apparent symp-
toms in the early stage of this disease. With
Focused ultrasound on human cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro 443
Vol. 64(4): 441 - 450, 2023
the disease progression, vaginal bleeding and
vaginal drainage, and even systemic failure
signs like anemia and cachexia in the later
stages may appear 6, which seriously threat-
en the lives and health of most women.
The common symptoms of cervical can-
cer are vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge,
frequent urination, urgency, constipation,
swelling of the lower limbs, and abdominal
pain caused by the involvement of adjacent
tissues, organs, and nerves. In recent de-
cades, due to the wide application of cervi-
cal cytology screening technology, early di-
agnosis and treatment of cervical cancer and
precancerous lesions have become the main
reason for reducing morbidity and mortality,
thereby improving patient survival. A study
investigated the positive effect of using
WhatsApp (the internet messaging app) on
the health promotion of older women’s be-
havior for early detection of cervical cancer
through the visual acetic acid examination 7.
Focused ultrasound technology is a
high-tech that has gradually matured and
developed in recent years. Its basic principle
is to use ultrasound to have good perme-
ability inside the tissue and focus on iden-
tification. Through the computer control
system, the thermal effect, cavitation effect,
and mechanical effect eventually make the
target tumor cell degeneration and necrosis
to achieve the purpose of treatment3tissue
disintegration is also possible because of
the interaction between the distorted HIFU
bursts and either bubble cloud or boiling
bubble. Hydrodynamic cavitation is another
type of cavitation and has been employed
widely in industry, but its role in mechani-
cal erosion to tissue is not clearly known. In
this study, the bubble dynamics immediately
after the termination of HIFU exposure in
the transparent gel phantom was captured
by high-speed photography, from which the
bubble displacement towards the transducer
and the changes of bubble size was quantita-
tively determined. The characteristics of hy-
drodynamic cavitation due to the release of
the acoustic radiation force and relaxation
of compressed surrounding medium were
found to associate with the number of pulses
delivered and HIFU parameters (i.e. pulse
duration and pulse repetition frequency. In
recent decades, because focused ultrasound
has the advantages of non-invasiveness,
quick recovery after surgery, and less pain
for patients, it has been increasingly used to
treat various solid tumors, such as cervical
cancer, uterine fibroids, and pancreatic can-
cer 8. Many clinical studies have confirmed
that focused ultrasound can play a better
role in treating cervical cancer 9,10.
Imankulov et al. evaluated the feasibil-
ity of using high-intensity focused ultrasound
(HIFU) to treat tumors and proved that high-
intensity focused ultrasound can effectively
inhibit the growth of various tumor cells 11.
Hong et al. discussed the effect of HIFU irra-
diation on the apoptosis-related genes of hu-
man pancreatic cancer xenograft tumors. By
establishing a nude mouse-human pancreatic
cancer YY-1 cell xenograft model and HIFU ir-
radiation, the original TUNEL labeling meth-
od was used to detect the apoptosis rate of
tumor cells, and it was found that the tumor
cell apoptosis rate in the irradiated group was
higher 12. Yuan et al. reported that the mecha-
nism by which HIFU enhances anti-tumor
immunity has not been well elucidated, and
there is emerging evidence that miRNA plays
an essential role in the immune response 13.
Focused ultrasound for the treatment
of cervical cancer uses the directionality of
ultrasound, tissue penetration, and focusing
and uses special focusing equipment to fo-
cus ultrasound from the outside of the body
to the selected treatment area in the body14.
In some studies, focused ultrasound treat-
ment was recorded, and the average number
of treatments was eight times. Most patients
completed the follow-up. Among patients
who completed follow-up, survival rate statis-
tics were conducted every six months for the
24 months after treatment. The survival rate
in the 6th month was 100.00%; the survival
rate at the 12th month was 75.93%; the sur-
vival rate at the 18th month was 66.67%; the
444 Liu et al.
Investigación Clínica 64(4): 2023
survival rate at the 24th month was 55.56%.
These results show that focused ultrasound
can kill cancer tissues in a targeted manner
while preserving most normal tissues 15.
This article aimed to analyze the effect
of focused ultrasound on human cervical
cancer HeLa cells in vitro.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Preparation of Experimental Materials
A medical university’s ultrasound en-
gineering institute provided human cervi-
cal cancer HeLa cells. The cultured HeLa
cells were randomly divided into control,
low-intensity, and high-intensity irradiation
groups. The control group was treated with
conventional interferon in vitro, the low-
intensity group was treated with focused ul-
trasound, and the high-intensity group was
treated with an intensity-focused ultrasound
instrument (Table 1).
The conventional cell culture method
The cryopreserved human cervical can-
cer HeLa cells were recovered in a culture
bottle containing 10% fetal bovine serum
RPM H-1640 nutrient solution, and a single-
cell suspension was prepared. Cell growth in-
hibition was determined by MTT colorimetry
(tetrazolium dye colorimetric assay).
The density of human cervical cancer
HeLa cells was adjusted to 3x103 cells/mL.
The MTT method was used to determine the
concentration, and the inhibition rate (R)
was calculated as follows:
Inhibition rate (R) = (1-experimental
group A value, control group A value) × 100%
The experiment was repeated three
times with the same method.
Focused ultrasonic field treatment
Logarithmically grown cells were taken
and digested with 0.25% trypsin. They were
centrifuged and washed with PBS solution
2~3 times. The cell density was adjusted to 2
x 104 cells/mL. The experimental group was
divided into low-dose and high-dose groups
according to the different intensities of fo-
cused ultrasound (0, 1000 and 3000 Watts/
cm2). A volume of 500 µL was taken out of
cell suspension from each group and placed
in the smallest electric chamber. The fixed
electric field intensity was 250 kV/cm, the
repetition frequency was 3 Hz, and the pulse
width was 800 ps. The control group did not
receive focused ultrasound treatment.
Observing the cell morphology under
an optical microscope
The cell density was adjusted to 3x104
cells/mL and inoculated into a 24-well culture
plate with a preset cover glass. Each well was
placed in an incubator for 1ml culture, and the
medium changed in the logarithmic growth
phase. After 72 hours, the coverslip was re-
moved and stained, and the cell morphology
was observed under an optical microscope.
Observing the cell morphology by
transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
The cells were inoculated in a culture
flask according to the above density. They
were collected, fixed before washing through
4% glutaraldehyde, fixed after washing with
1% acid, periodically dehydrated, and then
soaked with epoxy resin. They were then
embedded to make a fat mass and cut into
ultra-thin sections. The cell morphology was
observed with TEM.
Table 1
The condition and treatment of Hela cells in different groups.
Serial number Number of cells Passages Treatment
Control group 1.83×1045 Alpha interferon
Low-intensity group 1.75×1045 Low-intensity Focused ultrasound
High-intensity group 1.82×1045 High-intensity focused ultrasound
Focused ultrasound on human cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro 445
Vol. 64(4): 441 - 450, 2023
Detecting cell apoptosis by the TUNEL
method
Cell slides were obtained according to
the method of observing cell morphology
under an optical microscope and cultured in
an incubator. After the logarithmic growth
phase, the medium was changed, and drugs
were added, according to the TUNEL meth-
od, which was utilized for detecting apoptot-
ic DNA fragmentation and identifying and
quantifying apoptotic cells.
Western blot analysis of BAX and Bcl-2
protein expression
After cell treatment, each group of cells
was incubated for 12 hours, suspended in PBS,
and counted. The 1x106 cells were pelleted by
centrifugation, lysed with 200 mL PMSF cell
lysis buffer for one hour, and then centrifuged
at 12000 g at 4 °C for 10 minutes. Bcl-2 and
BAX primary antibodies were added overnight
at 4 °C. The samples were washed three times
at room temperature in TBST for 10 minutes
each time. Quantity One ® 1-D image analysis
software (Bio-Rad) was used to analyze the
results. The absorbance of the blot was equal
to the average absorbance × area. The ratio
of BAX / Bcl-2 was equal to the absorbance of
the BAX band/Bcl-2 band.
Immunohistochemical staining (SP
method) was performed, and the steps of the
SP kit instructions were followed. PBS was
used instead of the primary antibody as a neg-
ative control, and Fuzhou Maxim Biological
Company provided photos of the positive pair.
Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain
Reaction (rtPCR) and Cycle Threshold
(Ct) Determination
Cycle Threshold (Ct) values were de-
termined using the real-time quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) method.
Total RNA was extracted from the control,
low-intensity, and high-intensity HeLa cell
samples before and after treatment using
the TRIzol reagent. The quality and concen-
tration of the extracted RNA were measured
using a NanoDrop spectrophotometer.
The extracted RNA was then reverse-tran-
scribed into cDNA using a reverse transcription
kit. The cDNA was used as the template for real-
time PCR amplification. The reaction mixture
included SYBR Green PCR Master Mix, forward
and reverse primers specific to the gene of in-
terest, and the cDNA template.
The cDNA was amplified by real-time
PCR using SYBR Green PCR Master Mix on
an Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Real-Time
PCR system. The amplification conditions
were as follows: initial denaturation at 95 °C
for 10 min, followed by 40 cycles of denatur-
ation at 95 °C for 15 sec, annealing at 60 °C
for 1 min, and extension at 72 °C for 30 sec.
The Ct value indicates the number of
cycles required for the fluorescence signal to
surpass the threshold level, which is inversely
proportional to the amount of target nucleic
acid in the sample. Lower Ct values corre-
spond to higher levels of target nucleic acid.
The Primer Premier software designed
PCR primers specific for the reference gene
GAPDH, and the target gene was used. Rela-
tive expression levels of the gene of interest
were calculated using the 2-ΔΔCT method,
with GAPDH as the internal control. Fold
changes in gene expression were analyzed
using the 2-ΔΔCt method, and qRT-PCR was
performed in triplicate for each sample. The
Ct values of the control, low-intensity, and
high-intensity groups before and after treat-
ment were compared to evaluate the effect
of various treatments on HeLa cell activity.
Lower Ct values were indicative of higher
gene expression and cell activity.
Statistical processing
The IBM SPSS 18.0® statistical analy-
sis software was used for statistical process-
ing. All experiments were performed at least
three times. MTT results were analyzed
for the variance of repeated measurement
data, and laser scanning confocal and West-
ern blot detection was performed using the
ANOVA test. The difference was statistically
significant with p<0.05.
446 Liu et al.
Investigación Clínica 64(4): 2023
RESULTS
Comparison of the mortality of each
group of cells after focused ultrasound
treatment
The mortality of each group of cells was
measured using focused ultrasound treat-
ment of human cervical cancer HeLa cells at
three h, six h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h. The mor-
tality of cells in each group at 48 h showed
an upward trend with time, but the rising
speed of each group was different. It can be
seen that there is a difference between the
death rate of human cervical cancer HeLa
cells and the intensity of focused ultrasound
have a proportional relationship. In addition,
the cell death rate of HeLa cells in the same
treatment group reached a peak 12 hours af-
ter treatment, which was significantly higher
than other time points (P<0.01) (Table 2).
Comparison of the growth inhibition rate
of focused ultrasound
The growth inhibition of human cervical
cancer HeLa cells by focused ultrasound af-
ter different times was statistically analyzed.
It can be seen from the data in Fig. 1 that
focused ultrasound has a specific inhibitory
effect on the growth of HeLa cells, and the
higher the intensity of focused ultrasound,
the higher the inhibition rate on cancer cells.
After 12 hours of focused ultrasound treat-
ment, the growth inhibition rate of the low-
intensity group was 55.6% higher than that
of the control group, the growth inhibition
rate of the high-intensity group was 41.2%
higher than that of the low-intensity group,
and 72 hours after the focused ultrasound
treatment, the growth inhibition of the low-
intensity group was 55.6% higher than that of
the control group. The growth inhibition rate
of the high-intensity group was 11.1% higher
than that of the low-intensity group.
Western blot detection of BAX and Bcl-2
expression
It can be seen from the data in Fig. 2
that the expression of BAX protein increased
significantly after focused ultrasound treat-
ment. The expression of BAX in the low-in-
tensity group was 13.6% higher than that in
the control group, and the expression of BAX
in the high-intensity group was 2.1 higher
than that in the low-intensity group. The ex-
pression of Bcl-2 protein decreased after fo-
cused ultrasound treatment. The expression
of Bcl-2 in the low-intensity group was 15.9%
lower than that in the control group, and
the expression of Bcl-2 in the high-intensity
group was 51.7% lower than that of the low-
intensity group.
Changes in Ct values before and after
treatment of HeLa cells
Table 2
The percentage of mortality of different groups of cells at different time points.
Group 3 h 6 h 12 h 24 h 48 h
Control group 1.05±1.25 2.57±0.98 4.67±1.28 5.60±1.22 7.05±3.44
Low-intensity group 35.94±1.68 71.23±0.99 74.22±0.87 57.56±0.99 74.88±1.96
High-intensity group 56.94±3.68 83.24±0.25 85.23±0.45 85.68±2.97 85.88±1.01
Values are mean ± standard deviation.
Fig. 1. Comparison of the growth inhibition rate of
focused ultrasound on human cervical can-
cer HeLa cells after different times.
Focused ultrasound on human cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro 447
Vol. 64(4): 441 - 450, 2023
This study recorded the Ct value chang-
es of three groups of human HeLa cells before
and after treatment. It can be seen from the
data in Fig. 3 that the Ct values of the three
groups of HeLa cells before treatment are
the same, but the Ct values after treatment
have apparent changes. After treatment, the
Ct value of the low-intensity group is 18.1%
lower than that of the control group. The Ct
value of the intensity group is 27.8% lower
than that of the low-intensity group, which
shows that focused ultrasound can effective-
ly reduce the activity of HeLa cells.
DISCUSSION
This study analyzed the effect of focused
ultrasound on human cervical cancer HeLa
cells in vitro, and it showed that. This study
showed that HIFU could be used to treat cer-
vical cancer. Specifically, the following three
points: first, this article uses a controlled ex-
periment to compare the in vitro effects of
low-intensity and high-intensity focused ul-
trasound. It accurately reflects the inhibitory
effect of focused ultrasound on HeLa cells.
Secondly, this article uses Western blot to de-
tect the expression of BAX and Bcl-2 proteins,
which can accurately reflect the changes in
protein expression in HeLa cells and the tu-
mor suppressor effect of focused ultrasound
at the protein level. Thirdly, MTT results for
repeated measurement data analysis of vari-
ance, laser scanning confocal, and Western
blot detection using ANOVA test to ensure
the experimental results are rigorous and
credible.
The research results show that focused
ultrasound has a particular inhibitory effect
on the growth of human HeLa cells, and the
higher the intensity of focused ultrasound,
the higher the inhibition rate on cancer
cells. After 12 hours of focused ultrasound
treatment, the growth inhibition rate of the
low-intensity group was 55.6% higher than
that of the control group, and the growth in-
hibition rate of the high-intensity group was
41.2% higher than that of the low-intensity
group. A study found that HIFU combined
with cisplatin facilitates tumor volume re-
duction and could be beneficial in treating
patients with cervical cancer 16. In addition,
Abel et al. reported that HIFU is a potentially
safe way to treat cervical cancer 17.
Bcl-2 is a member of the apoptotic gene
family. It is known that Bcl-2 is expressed
in solid tumors and is mainly located in the
cytoplasm and nucleus. Scientists speculate
that this may be related to the formation of
certain malignant tumors 18. In the related
studies of cervical cancer, although the ex-
pression of Bcl-2 has no apparent relationship
with tumor histological type, tumor stage, or
lymph node metastasis, the five-year survival
rate of Bcl-2-positive patients is significantly
higher than in BAX-positive patients 19.
In addition, BAX protein expression
was significantly increased after focused ul-
trasound treatment. The expression of BAX
in the low-intensity group was 13.6% higher
Fig. 2. Comparison of the results of Western blot
detection of BAX and Bcl-2 expression.
Fig. 3. Changes of Ct values before and after
treatment of HeLa cells.
448 Liu et al.
Investigación Clínica 64(4): 2023
than that in the control group, and the ex-
pression of BAX in the high-intensity group
was 2.1 times higher than that in the low-
intensity group, while the Bcl-2 protein after
focused ultrasound treatment, the expres-
sion level decreased. The expression level of
BAX in the low-intensity group was 15.9%
lower than that of the control group, and the
expression level of BAX in the high-intensity
group was 51.7% lower than that of the low-
intensity group.
According to the study results, the Ct
values of the three groups of HeLa cells be-
fore treatment were the same, but the Ct
values after treatment had changed. After
treatment, the Ct values of the low-intensity
group were 18.1% lower than those of the
control group, and the Ct value of the high-
intensity group was 27.8% lower than the
low-intensity group, showing that focused
ultrasound can effectively reduce the activ-
ity of HeLa cells. In addition, focused ultra-
sound has the highest proportion in treating
pancreatic cancer, reaching 51.4%, followed
by bone tumors, accounting for 21.1%, while
cervical cancer only accounts for 3% (Fig. 4)
20,21. It can be seen that focused ultrasound
has a more favorable prospect for treating
cervical cancer.
In summary, this article proposed fo-
cused ultrasound as a new treatment meth-
od for cervical cancer. This study briefly in-
troduced focused ultrasound as a treatment
method, studied the in vitro effects of focused
ultrasound on HeLa cells, and analyzed the
inhibitory effect of focused ultrasound on
cancer cells. The research results show that
focused ultrasound has a specific inhibitory
effect on the growth of HeLa cells, and the
higher the intensity of focused ultrasound,
the higher the inhibition rate on cancer cells.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Dr. Humberto Martinez for
this manuscript’s quality enhancement and
language-native editing.
Funding
This study was not funded.
Conflict of interests
All of the authors had no personal, fi-
nancial, commercial, or academic conflicts
of interest separately.
Authors’ ORCID numbers
Yanbin Liu (YLiu):
0000-0003-4511-061X
Qun Zhao (QZ):
0000-0002-1119-503X
Panpan Liu (PL):
0000-0002-8796-2426
Yanbin Li (YLi):
0000-0001-5499-8986
Li’an Yi (LY):
0000-0003-2994-7233
Haiping Yan (HY):
0000-0001-7449-2616
Authors’ Contribution
YLiu: Manuscript editing, revising and
final approval of manuscript. QZ: Manuscript
editing, revising and final approval of manu-
Fig. 4. Application of focused ultrasound in the
treatment of solid tumors and its propor-
tion.
Focused ultrasound on human cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro 449
Vol. 64(4): 441 - 450, 2023
script. PL: Administrative support. YLi: Con-
ception and design, Collection and assembly
of data. LY: Provision of study materials or pa-
tients. HY: Data analysis and interpretation.
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