Scientists of NSTU NETI took part in a joint experiment aimed at fighting cancer cells by cold plasma jet with scientists of Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS, and Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics SB RAS.
First of all, Novosibirsk scientists had to master the creation of a plasma jet, learn how to control its properties and study them. "Firstly, plasma treatment affects the biological activity of cells, causing apoptosis, a type of programmed cell death. Secondly, it can suppress the resistance of cancer cells to the effects of drugs that occur during chemotherapy," explains Irina Schweigert, Senior Researcher at Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics SB RAS, head of the project "Low-temperature plasma jet for developing approaches to anti-cancer therapy" supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation.
Experiments have shown that the viability of cancer cells is significantly reduced as a result of the cold plasma jet treatment. The low temperature of the plasma jet (no more than 40°C) does not burn the body. In addition, this type of treatment suppresses the resistance of cancer cells to drugs during chemotherapy.
"During the work at the project, we have developed and launched two types of "plasma knife" devices: cylindrical and flat. The device delivers cold plasma to a biological object with high accuracy: areas with complex surface structures, recesses and cavities are easily accessible using a cylindrical jet and can be treated evenly. Devices with a flat jet can handle much larger surface areas, " comments Dmitry Zakrevsky, laboratory head at Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics SB RAS, Professor of Electronic Devices Department, NSTU NETI.
NSTU NETI scientists were developing an installation for generating low-temperature plasma jets using a gas discharge in the open air. "The plasma jet is formed at a low voltage of two to ten kilovolts and is cold, that is, it increases the temperature in the area of contact with the surface (in particular, with biological material) by only a fraction of a degree and does not exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Accordingly, patients feel no thermal shock. In the course of the project we developed and launched two types of devices: cylindrical and flat. I was the one who developed, researched, and optimized a low-temperature plasma jet generating unit based on the results of biological experiments. We have been working with two types of tumor cells: A549 lung adenocarcinoma and A431epidermoid carcinoma, as normal (healthy) cells we used human embryonic kidney cells and fibroblast of human foreskin. The time of processing cells with a cold plasma jet varied from one to fifteen minutes. Direct impact on cells and indirect (adding a plasma activated liquid to the cells) plasma jet resulted in a significant - up to 80 % - suppression of the cancer cells viability", said Elena Milakhina, 1st year postgraduate student of Radio Engineering and Electronics Faculty.
The project is designed for three years. Currently, the main task is to optimize the parameters of the plasma jet and to achieve the main goal: the destruction of cancer cells. The scientists plan to create devices with a customizable design and controllable composition of active components in the area of the impact on cells, to study the mechanism of selective influence of reactive oxygen species on cancer cells, and in the final stage, to experiment on animals.
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