The effects of hypoxia on the invasion and the related protein expression of Hela cells and the role of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were investigated. The Hela cells were divided into three groups, namely, H (non-transfected Hela cells), H (pGenesil-1 empty plasmid-transfected Hela cells), and H (HIF-1α-shRNA plasmid-transfected Hela cells), and were cultured under hypoxia (1% O) and normoxia for 48h. The expression of HIF-1α, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and actin was detected using Western blot. The scratch test and the invasion assay were applied to examine the invasion in each group. The expression of HIF-1α, E-cadherin, and β-catenin in tumor grafts was assayed immunohistochemically. Western blot results revealed that the bands of HIF-1α, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and actin proteins were detected in the H and H groups under hypoxia for 48h. The expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and actin was detected in the H group under hypoxia for 48h, and normoxia. In the H, H, and H groups under normoxia, and the H group under hypoxia for 48h, no expression of HIF-1α was detectable. The scratch test showed that the invasive ability in the H group was significantly alleviated. Immunohistochemically, it was found that there was a significant difference in the expression of HIF-1α, E-cadherin, and β-catenin between the H and H groups (<0.05), but the difference was not significant between the H and H groups. It was concluded that the effects of hypoxia on the invasion of human cervical cancer Hela cells and the expression of related proteins (E-cadherin, β-catenin, and actin) depend on HIF-1α.