title: Differential Epigenetic Effects of Atmospheric Cold Plasma on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells.
abstract: Cold atmospheric plasma (plasma) has emerged as a novel tool for a cancer treatment option, having been successfully applied to a few types of cancer cells, as well as tissues. However, to date, no studies have been performed to examine the effect of plasma on epigenetic alterations, including CpG methylation. In this study, the effects of plasma on DNA methylation changes in breast cancer cells were examined by treating cultured MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, representing estrogen-positive and estrogen-negative cancer cells, respectively, with plasma. A pyrosequencing analysis of Alu indicated that a specific CpG site was induced to be hypomethylated from 23.4 to 20.3% (p < 0.05) by plasma treatment in the estrogen-negative MDA-MB-231 cells only. A genome-wide methylation analysis identified "cellular movement, connective tissue development and function, tissue development" and "cell-to-cell signaling and interaction, cell death and survival, cellular development" as the top networks. Of the two cell types, the MDA-MB-231 cells underwent a higher rate of apoptosis and a decreased proliferation rate upon plasma treatment. Taken together, these results indicate that plasma induces epigenetic and cellular changes in a cell type-specific manner, suggesting that a careful screening of target cells and tissues is necessary for the potential application of plasma as a cancer treatment option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Byungtak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Hansol
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunkyung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Seungyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D020087:Alu Elements / Q000235:genetics; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000187:drug effects; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species