title: Single-cell-precision microplasma-induced cancer cell apoptosis.
abstract: The issue of single-cell control has recently attracted enormous interest. However, in spite of the presently achievable intracellular-level physiological probing through bio-photonics, nano-probe-based, and some other techniques, the issue of inducing selective, single-cell-precision apoptosis, without affecting neighbouring cells remains essentially open. Here we resolve this issue and report on the effective single-cell-precision cancer cell treatment using the reactive chemistry of the localized corona-type plasma discharge around a needle-like electrode with the spot size ∼1 µm. When the electrode is positioned with the micrometer precision against a selected cell, a focused and highly-localized micro-plasma discharge induces apoptosis in the selected individual HepG2 and HeLa cancer cells only, without affecting any surrounding cells, even in small cell clusters. This is confirmed by the real-time monitoring of the morphological and structural changes at the cellular and cell nucleus levels after the plasma exposure.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China.
authors: Xiao
authors: X
authors: Tan
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Chinese Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science & Technology (HUST), Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors: Shasha
authors: S
authors: Zhao
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Chinese Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science & Technology (HUST), Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Lei
authors: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China.
authors: Xinpei
authors: X
authors: Lu
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Chinese Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science & Technology (HUST), Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors: Guangyuan
authors: G
authors: He
authors: CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering, Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia; School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors: Kostya
authors: K
authors: Ostrikov
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D004566:Electrodes; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases