Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of the plasma jet-treated medium on lymphoblastoid WIL2-NS cell line using the cytokinesis block micronucleus cytome assay

Sung-Ha Hong,Robert D Short,Michael Fenech,Endre J Szili,Nishtha Gaur

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-03754-1

Abstract

Despite growing interest in the application of atmospheric plasma jets as medical treatment strategies, there has been comparatively little research on the potential genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of plasma jet treatment. In this study, we have employed the cytokinesis block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-Cyt) assay with WIL2-NS B lymphoblastoid cells to test the potential genotoxicity, as well as the cytotoxicity, of toxic species generated in cell culture media by an argon (Ar) plasma jet. Elevated levels of cell death (necrosis) and occurrence of chromosomal damage (micronuclei MN, nculeoplasmic bridge NPBs and nuclear bus, Nbuds) were observed when cells were exposed to plasma jet-treated media. These results provide a first insight into how we might measure the genotoxic and cytotoxic effect of plasma jet treatments (both indirect and direct) in dividing human cells.

Highlights

Research into the applications of cold atmospheric plasma jets in biology and medicine has been rapidly growing in the past decade[1]
It has been claimed that plasma jet-treated media has a certain degree of selectivity to cancerous cells, where breast cancer cells have been shown to be more susceptible to plasma jet-treated media than glioblastoma cells[10]
We investigated the effects of an Ar plasma jet-treated Rosewell Park Memorial Institute 1640 cell culture medium on WIL2-NS cells originally isolated from the spleen of a Caucasian male[42], using the CBMN-Cyt assay

Summary

Introduction

Research into the applications of cold atmospheric plasma jets in biology and medicine has been rapidly growing in the past decade[1]. A wide range of plasma jet sources have been developed reflecting the growing commercial confidence in the likelihood of developing a new medical industry based on the use of plasma jets This optimism is backed up by evidence in the selective destruction of cancerous cells[2], the stimulation of wound healing[3] and different dermatological applications[4, 5]. In the recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of an indirect plasma treatment method, where plasma jet-treated media or plasma jet-treated liquid is used as a medical therapy. The cytotoxicity of direct and indirect plasma treatment is more typically studied, using various assays such as viability assays using resazurin[18] or MTT10 and fluorescence staining methods to track and visualise live/dead cells[28] routinely employed

Methods

Results

Conclusion