In order to assess whether gene transfection could be mediated by ultrasound in associa- tion with P85 and find the appropriate parameters of ultrasound irradiation, the effects of ultrasound with or without P85 on gene transfection of HepG2 cells were examined. The HepG2 cells were irra- diated by ultrasound at 1 MHz, 0.4-2.0 W/cm2 and 50% duty cycle with plasmid encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a report gene. Forty-eight h later, the expression of EGFP was detected under the fluorescence microscopy. Transfection efficacy was quantitatively assessed by flow cytometry, and cell viability was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion. The results showed that the transfection efficacy was increased with the increases in ultrasound output power and the ideal trans- fection efficacy was achieved in HepG2 cells irradiated by ultrasound at 0.8 W/cm2 for 30 s. The transfection efficacy in ulstrasound+P85 group was three times higher than in single ultrasound group [(17.63±1.07)% vs (5.57±0.56)%, P