Sonocatalytic injury of cancer cells attached on the surface of a nickel-titanium dioxide alloy plate

Abstract

The present study demonstrates ultrasound-induced cell injury using a nickel-titanium dioxide (Ni-TiO2) alloy plate as a sonocatalyst and a cell culture surface. Ultrasound irradiation of cell-free Ni-TiO2 alloy plates with 1 MHz ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm(2) for 30s led to an increased generation of hydroxyl (OH) radicals compared to nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) control alloy plates with and without ultrasound irradiation. When human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cells) cultured on the Ni-TiO2 alloy plates were irradiated with 1 MHz ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm(2) for 30s and then incubated for 48 h, cell density on the alloy plate was reduced to approximately 50% of the controls on the Ni-Ti alloy plates with and without ultrasound irradiation. These results indicate the injury of MCF-7 cells following sonocatalytic OH radical generation by Ni-TiO2. Further experiments demonstrated cell shrinkage and chromatin condensation after ultrasound irradiation of MCF-7 cells attached on the Ni-TiO2 alloy plates, indicating induction of apoptosis.

Keywords: Cancer cells; Nickel–titanium alloy plate; Sonocatalytic reaction; Titanium dioxide; Ultrasound.