Oxidative stress-dependent and -independent death of glioblastoma cells induced by non-thermal plasma-exposed solutions

Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 20;9(1):13657. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50136-w.

Abstract

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has been widely used for preclinical studies in areas such as wound healing, blood coagulation, and cancer therapy. We previously developed plasma-activated medium (PAM) and plasma-activated Ringer's lactate solutions (PAL) for cancer treatments. Many in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that both PAM and PAL exhibit anti-tumor effects in several types of cancer cells such as ovarian, gastric, and pancreatic cancer cells as well as glioblastoma cells. However, interestingly, PAM induces more intracellular reactive oxygen species in glioblastoma cells than PAL. To investigate the differences in intracellular molecular mechanisms of the effects of PAM and PAL in glioblastoma cells, we measured gene expression levels of antioxidant genes such as CAT, SOD2, and GPX1. Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR analyses revealed that PAM elevated stress-inducible genes that induce apoptosis such as GADD45α signaling molecules. PAL suppressed genes downstream of the survival and proliferation signaling network such as YAP/TEAD signaling molecules. These data reveal that PAM and PAL induce apoptosis in glioblastoma cells by different intracellular molecular mechanisms.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Catalase / genetics
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy
  • Glioblastoma / genetics*
  • Glutathione Peroxidase / genetics
  • Glutathione Peroxidase GPX1
  • Humans
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects*
  • Plasma Gases / chemistry
  • Plasma Gases / pharmacology*
  • Ringer's Lactate / chemistry
  • Superoxide Dismutase / genetics

Substances

  • Plasma Gases
  • Ringer's Lactate
  • CAT protein, human
  • Catalase
  • Glutathione Peroxidase
  • Superoxide Dismutase
  • superoxide dismutase 2
  • Glutathione Peroxidase GPX1
  • GPX1 protein, human