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

Cancers MDPI

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

Christin Schneider Lehrstuhl für Biochemie und Molekulare Medizin Lisa Gebhardt Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Klinische Forschung IZKF-Förderlinien Michael Fischer Medizinische Fakultät Anja Katrin Boßerhoff Lehrstuhl für Biochemie und Molekulare Medizin

Involved external institutions

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