title: Non-thermal plasma treatment altered gene expression profiling in non-small-cell lung cancer A549 cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent technological advances in atmospheric plasmas have made the creation of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma (NTP) possible for utilization in the medical field. Although accumulated evidence suggests that NTP induces cell death in various cancer cell types thus offering a promising alternative treatment strategy, the mechanism underlying its therapeutic effect is not fully understood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed relevant signaling cascades associated with the tumor protein p53, in particular the cell cycle arrest, DNA damage as well as the underlying apoptosis pathways. Based on our results, the major effect from plasma exposure was found to be the activation of MAPK and p53 signaling pathways, resulting in changes in gene expression of MEKK, GADD, FOS and JUN. Finally, a significant modulation in expression of genes related to cellular proliferation and differentiation was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the presented data of the tumor transcriptome helped identify the key players in modulated gene expression following exposure to plasma at the molecular level, and also helped interpret the downstream processes. The present work laid the foundation for further studies to clarify the roles of multiple pathways in plasma-induced biological processes. Further investigation of these genes in other cell lines may reveal comprehensive mechanisms of plasma induced effects.
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. joseph.houjue@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. fykfmj@126.com.|School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. fykfmj@126.com.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. peter.yu@cityu.edu.hk.|Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. peter.yu@cityu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. qwer_214@163.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plasma Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. chengcheng@ipp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. lingzhibao@hfcas.ac.cn.|, Mailbox 1110, 350 Shushanhu Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China. lingzhibao@hfcas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Lingzhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China. hanw@hfcas.ac.cn.|, Mailbox 1110, 350 Shushanhu Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, P. R. China. hanw@hfcas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics*; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases