Acidification is an essential process of cold atmospheric plasma and promotes the anti-cancer effect on malignant melanoma cells

Schneider C, Gebhardt L, Arndt S, Karrer S, Zimmermann JL, Fischer M, Boßerhoff AK (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: 671

Journal Issue: 5

DOI: 10.3390/cancers11050671

Abstract

(1) Background: Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is ionized gas near room temperature. The anti-cancer effects of CAP were confirmed for several cancer types and were attributed to CAP-induced reactive species. However, the mode of action of CAP is still not well understood. (2) Methods: Changes in cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ level after CAP treatment of malignant melanoma cells were analyzed via the intracellular Ca²⁺ indicator fura-2 AM. CAP-produced reactive species were determined by fluorescence spectroscopic and protein nitration by Western Blot analysis. (3) Results: CAP caused a strong acidification of water and solutions that were buffered with the so-called Good buffers, while phosphate-buffered solutions with higher buffer capacity showed minor pH reductions. The CAP-induced Ca²⁺ influx in melanoma cells was stronger in acidic pH than in physiological conditions. NO formation that is induced by CAP was dose-and pH-dependent and CAP-treated solutions only caused protein nitration in cells under acidic conditions. (4) Conclusions: We describe the impact of CAP-induced acidification on the anti-cancer effects of CAP. A synergistic effect of CAP-induced ROS, RNS, and acidic conditions affected the intracellular Ca²⁺ level of melanoma cells. As the microenvironment of tumors is often acidic, further acidification might be one reason for the specific anti-cancer effects of CAP.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Universitätsklinikum Regensburg Germany (DE) terraplasma GmbH Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Schneider, C., Gebhardt, L., Arndt, S., Karrer, S., Zimmermann, J.L., Fischer, M., & Boßerhoff, A.K. (2019). Acidification is an essential process of cold atmospheric plasma and promotes the anti-cancer effect on malignant melanoma cells. Cancers, 11(5). https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers11050671

MLA:

Schneider, Christin, et al. "Acidification is an essential process of cold atmospheric plasma and promotes the anti-cancer effect on malignant melanoma cells." Cancers 11.5 (2019).

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