Selective Killing Effects of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet on Human Melanoma and Lewis Lung Carcinoma Cells

Melanoma is one type of skin cancer that develops from melanocytes and has been reported as the cause of deaths in different continents globally. This study aims to selectively kill only skin cancer cells by applying a customer designed and portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). Human melanoma (A375) and Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) were selected as the target cancer cells to compare with the effects of APPJ toward L-929 mouse fibroblasts. The impacts of APPJ treatments on the cell viability and morphology of three types of cells were evaluated quantitatively by LDH and MTT assays whereas the qualitative cell behavior was provided by cell morphological changes. Importantly, the mechanism of evolution in cell fate resulted from APPJ treatments for the three types of cells was elucidated by cell apoptosis integrated with caspase-9 activities, which determined the threshold of APPJ treatment time toward individual cell type. Furthermore, it was found that the cell culture time assisted benign cells (L-929 fibroblasts) to resume proliferation activities from the impact of APPJ treatment. Therefore, the selective impacts on tumor and benign cells demonstrated in this study shed lights of APPJ treatments for the future developments of direct plasma skin cancer therapy.

Automated summary

This study aimed to selectively kill skin cancer cells using a custom designed and portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), with a focus on melanoma and lung carcinoma cells. The mechanisms of cell fate evolution following APPJ treatments were elucidated, along with the observation that benign cells could resume proliferation activities after APPJ impact. These findings shed light on the potential of APPJ treatments for future developments in direct plasma skin cancer therapy.