Enhancement of the Anticancer Effect during the Simultaneous Treatment of Cells by a Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jet and Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

Selecting the most effective and biologically safe operation regimes of a cold atmospheric plasma jet (CAPJ) is a defining factor in developing the cancer treatments based on the CAPJ. Experimentally and numerically, by changing the pulse duration of the positive pulsed voltage, we determined the optimum CAPJ regimes with regular propagation of streamers and a maximum discharge current at a temperature T < 42°C. In these regimes, the CAPJ appreciably suppresses the viability of the cancerous cells. It was shown that adding gold nanoparticles increases the cytotoxic effect of the plasma jet and decreases the viability of the NCI‑H23 epithelioid lung adenocarcinoma, the A549 lung adenocarcinoma, the BrCCh4e-134 mammary adenocarcinoma, and the cells of the uMel1 uveal melanoma. The polyethylenglycol-modified gold nanoparticles with fluorescent labels were used to visualize the absorption of the nanoparticles by the cells. It was shown that the CAPJ stimulated the penetration of the nanoparticles into the cells when they were applied to the medium immediately before the CAPJ treatment or immediately after, which indicates a short-time increase in the permeability of the cell membrane.