Efficacy of an AC sinusoidal electric field for apoptosis induction in lung carcinoma cells (A549)

An AC sinusoidal electric field was applied to lung carcinoma cells for the induction of apoptosis. The occurrence of apoptosis was determined by analysis of Annexin V/PI and DNA fragmentation. Additional evidence of apoptosis was confirmed by caspase-3 cleavage and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential. These results demonstrated that the expression of apoptosis can be controlled by varying the magnitude and the duration of the field, and that the application of an AC electric field can stimulate the apoptosis via mitochondria-mediated pathway.