Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma can influence cell adhesion molecules on HaCaT-keratinocytes

Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasmas provide new hope for improvement in chronic wound management because of their potency in killing microorganisms. However, the effectiveness of the procedure has to be verified and negative effects on healthy tissues have to be excluded. In wound healing adhesion molecules play a crucial role for cell migration and proliferation. We investigated whether an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (kINPen09) influences the expression of adhesion molecules responsible for cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions after treatment of HaCaT-keratinocytes for 10 and 30 s. Twenty-four hours after plasma treatment expression of α(2) - and β(1)-integrin, E-cadherin and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was determined by flow cytometry. Plasma-treated HaCaT-cells were characterized by normal α(2)-integrin and increased β(1)-integrin expression. E-cadherin and EGFR expression was reduced after the 30-s treatment. We did not observe any effects following the 10-s plasma treatment. In conclusion, short-term plasma treatment can be applied without effects for cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion.