Artificial vesicles as an animal cell model for the study of biological application of non-thermal plasma

Artificial cell-like model systems can provide information which is hard to obtain with real biological cells. Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUV) containing intra-membrane DNA or OH radical-binding molecules are used to visualize the cytolytic activity of OH radicals. Changes in the GUV membrane are observed by microscopy or flow cytometry as performed for animal cells after non-thermal plasma treatment. The experimental data shows that OH radicals can be detected inside the membrane, although the biological effects are not as significant as for H2O2. This artificial model system can provide a systemic means to elucidate the complex interactions between biological materials and non-thermal plasma.