Plasma generated RONS in cell culture medium for in vitro studies of eukaryotic cells on Tissue Engineering scaffolds

Cold plasmas are continuously developed for biomaterials engineering as well as for therapeutic treatments of cells and tissues. For this last application plasma activated media (PAM) and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) gained attention as key players. Here, the use of cold atmospheric pressure (AP) plasma is described, for generating RONS in Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM); superoxide anion (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitrates (NO3-), and nitrites (NO2-) were detected. PAM was applied to Bone Marrow Stem Cells (BMSC) and SAOS-2 osteoblasts. Both native and plasma-modified polymeric scaffolds were used as three dimensional (3D) supports for cell cultures. The cell activity was found dependent on both PAM and cell type. BMSCs grown on plasma-coated scaffolds tolerated better PAM with respect to those on native scaffolds.