gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Development of atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma (APP) opened a wide field of possible applications in medicine. In previous studies, APP achieved sterilization and improved wound healing. In order to evaluate in-vitro the molecular response to plasma treatment in the human airway, proteome analysis of S9 epithelial cell lines as model for upper epithelial cells and clinical isolates of S. aureus strains as model for the physiologic flora were performed.

Methods & Results: Comparison between plasma-treated human epithelial cells and the corresponding untreated controls indicated obvious differences in proliferation. Moreover, a time-related manner of effects was detected: Up to 60 min after APP, epithelial cells reacted with oxidative stress response, protein modifications, cell protection mechanisms and partly with apoptosis. Surviving human epithelial cells, showed protein regeneration and proliferation after 48 h and 72 h, respectively. In contrast, clinical isolates of S. aureus were sensitive to APP treatment. Also, differences between different bacterial strains were revealed: Next to creation of bacteria-free areolas due to bacterial death, sublethal plasma dosage resulted in dramatic changes in the molecular response of treated bacteria. Proteomic analyses clearly distinguished strain specific molecular responses for S. aureus.

Conclusion: The presented technique opens a hypotheses-free approach for the study of complex host-pathogen interaction as well as for the definition of the outcome of new bacterial treatments. This study suggests APP as a possible adjunction for stimulating regeneration of epithelial cells and simultaneous bacterial decontamination in the human airway.

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