Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Blebbing in the Perforated Cells by Collapsing Bubbles

The aim of this study is to illustrate the dynamics of membrane blebbing induced by acoustic cavitation, and to discuss the role of membrane blebbing in cellular recovery post-exposure. We used a customized platform for 1.5-MHz ultrasound exposure (13.33-μs duration and 0.70-MPa peak negative pressure) and recorded real-time cellular responses of Hela cells at the single cell level. Our results revealed: 1) The dynamics of reversible blebbing at the perforation site includes three phases: expansion, pausing and retraction on the time scale of tens to hundreds of seconds. 2) The bleb expansion simultaneously occurs with the membrane from perforation to resealing. 3) Actin cytoskeleton recruitment and retraction are involved in the bleb dynamics. 4) Extracellular calcium ion influx triggers membrane resealing and blebbing. These findings provide new evidence to understand cellular responses to acoustic cavitation.