Plasma‐activated water from a dielectric barrier discharge plasma source for the selective treatment of cancer cells

Abstract

In this study, cold plasma was used to prepare plasma‐activated water (PAW) from a dielectric barrier discharge plasma source, with ambient air as the plasma‐forming gas. The PAW prepared was characterized for its physicochemical parameters, some of which followed a strong linear correlation with activation time (ta). The effects of PAW addition on the cell viability of human breast cancer cells (MDA‐MB‐231) and healthy murine muscle‐derived fibroblast cells were investigated using the MTT assay. The volume of PAW added and ta of PAW showed a significant impact. The PAW prepared was selective toward killing cancer cells at specific ta. PAW retains its potency against cancer cells after 14 days of refrigerated storage.

The Influence of Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma-Treated Media on the Cell Viability, Motility, and Induction of Apoptosis in Human Non-Metastatic (MCF7) and Metastatic (MDA-MB-231) Breast Cancer Cell Lines

“…From a long-term perspective, such application of magnetic nanoparticles inside tissues can, however, be hazardous because of the absorption of nanoparticles into the intracellular environment, especially in the case of lymphatic tissues of the intestine, which lead to the generation of the oxidative stress, cell destruction, and genotoxicity [ 9 ]. A remedy to this drawback could be the utilization of cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (CAPPs), those being a new, very promising and effective treatment modality in breast cancer therapy [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

“…Because hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), nitric oxide (NO), nitrate (NO 3 − ), nitrite (NO 2 − ), ammonia (NH 4 + ) ions, hydroxyl (OH • ), and hydrogen (H • ) radicals are produced during the CAPP operation with water or cell culture media [ 10 , 23 ], the CAPP-based approach is used in a wide range of applications such as wound healing [ 24 ], inactivation of parasites and foreign organisms [ 25 ], dentistry [ 26 ], seed germination [ 27 ], nanoparticles synthesis [ 28 ], blood coagulation [ 29 ], and so on. Concerning breast cancer therapy, several reaction-discharge systems have been developed and studied, including dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) [ 10 , 16 , 18 ], and radio-frequency discharge [ 22 ]. CAPP sources applied in these systems have been used for the direct [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] or indirect [ 12 , 14 , 15 , 20 ] treatment of cell lines.…”

“…Concerning breast cancer therapy, several reaction-discharge systems have been developed and studied, including dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) [ 10 , 16 , 18 ], and radio-frequency discharge [ 22 ]. CAPP sources applied in these systems have been used for the direct [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] or indirect [ 12 , 14 , 15 , 20 ] treatment of cell lines. In the first case, selected cell lines, i.e., MDA-MB-231 [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 16 , 20 , 22 ], MCF-7 [ 10 , 13 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 21 ], SKBR3 [ 15 ], AMN3 [ 21 ], AMJ13 [ 19 , 21 ], and MCF10A [ 11 , 18 ], were directly treated by proper CAPP sources for specific times.…”

“…CAPP sources applied in these systems have been used for the direct [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] or indirect [ 12 , 14 , 15 , 20 ] treatment of cell lines. In the first case, selected cell lines, i.e., MDA-MB-231 [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 16 , 20 , 22 ], MCF-7 [ 10 , 13 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 21 ], SKBR3 [ 15 ], AMN3 [ 21 ], AMJ13 [ 19 , 21 ], and MCF10A [ 11 , 18 ], were directly treated by proper CAPP sources for specific times. Next, the effect of such direct CAPP treatment on the cell lines’ viability was assessed; however, it exhibited some limitations, mostly related to its insufficient efficiency [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

“…A remedy to these drawbacks was the indirect CAPP-based method used for water [ 12 ] or cell culture media [ 14 , 15 , 20 ] activation. The resultant CAPP-activated liquids (DMEM, L-15/DMEM, DMEM/F-12, RPMI 1640, serum free medium) were used then in the MDA-MB-231 [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 16 , 20 , 22 ], MCF-7 [ 10 , 13 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 ], MCF10A [ 11 , 15 , 18 , 20 ], and AMJ13 [ 19 ] and SKBR3 [ 15 ] cell lines treatment. Indeed, they could be easily stored and transported for further application to cancerous cell lines, causing their death due to an efficient transfer of RONS [ 14 ].…”