title: Effect of cold plasma on glial cell morphology studied by atomic force microscopy.
abstract: The atomic force microscope (AFM) is broadly used to study the morphology of cells. The morphological characteristics and differences of the cell membrane between normal human astrocytes and glial tumor cells are not well explored. Following treatment with cold atmospheric plasma, evaluation of the selective effect of plasma on cell viability of tumor cells is poorly understood and requires further evaluation. Using AFM we imaged morphology of glial cells before and after cold atmospheric plasma treatment. To look more closely at the effect of plasma on cell membrane, high resolution imaging was used. We report the differences between normal human astrocytes and human glioblastoma cells by considering the membrane surface details. Our data, obtained for the first time on these cells using atomic force microscopy, argue for an architectural feature on the cell membrane, i.e. brush layers, different in normal human astrocytes as compared to glioblastoma cells. The brush layer disappears from the cell membrane surface of normal E6/E7 cells and is maintained in the glioblastoma U87 cells after plasma treatment.
authors: Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, Plasma laboratory, Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Nina
authors: N
authors: Recek
authors: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
authors: Xiaoqian
authors: X
authors: Cheng
authors: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America; Department of Neurosurgery, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Keidar
authors: Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, Plasma laboratory, Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Uros
authors: U
authors: Cvelbar
authors: Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, Plasma laboratory, Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Alenka
authors: A
authors: Vesel
authors: Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, Plasma laboratory, Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Miran
authors: M
authors: Mozetic
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Sherman
mesh_terms: D001253:Astrocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases