Effect of Non-Thermal Plasma on Proliferative Activity and Adhesion of Multipotent Stromal Cells to Scaffolds Developed for Tissue-Engineered Constructs

We studied the effect of non-thermal argon plasma on proliferative activity of bone marrow multipotent stromal cells in vitro. Treatment of stromal cell suspension with pure argon did not affect their proliferation. The cells treated with non-thermal argon plasma and explanted in the treatment medium demonstrated growth inhibition by 30-40% in comparison with the control. Multipotent stromal cells treated with plasma and after centrifugation explanted in normal medium within 12 min demonstrated accelerated growth. The total cell growth from the pellet and supernatant significantly exceeded the control values. We also analyzed adhesion and proliferative activity of multipotent stromal cells treated with non-thermal plasma on bioresorbable carriers. The cells adhered and proliferated on all types of studied samples. Adhesion properties of scaffolds differed. Caprolactone was found to be the most suitable material for adhesion and proliferation of multipotent stromal cells.

Non-Thermal Plasma Causes P53-Dependent Apoptosis in Human Colon Carcinoma Cells

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) consists of a huge amount of biologically active particles, whereas its temperature is close to ambient. This combination allows one to use NTP as a perspective tool for solving different biomedical tasks, including antitumor therapy. The treatment of tumor cells with NTP caused dose-dependent effects, such as growth arrest and apoptosis. However, while the outcome of NTP treatment has been established, the molecular mechanisms of the interaction between NTP and eukaryotic cells have not been thoroughly studied thus far. In this work, the mechanisms and the type of death of human colon carcinoma HCT 116 cells upon application of non-thermal argon plasma were studied. The effect of NTP on the major stress-activated protein p53 was investigated. The results demonstrate that the viability of HCT116 cells upon plasma treatment is dependent on the functional p53 protein. NTP treatment caused an increase in the intracellular concentration of p53 and the induction of the p53-controlled regulon. The p53-dependent accumulation of active proapoptotic caspase-3 was shown in NTP-treated cells. The study was the first to demonstrate that treatment of human colon carcinoma cells with NTP results in p53-dependent apoptosis. The results obtained contribute to our understanding of the applicability of NTP in antitumor therapy.