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    Gas plasma-treated prostate cancer cells augment myeloid cell activity and cytotoxicity
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Bekeschus, Sander; Ressel, Verena; Freund, Eric; Gelbrich, Nadine; Mustea, Alexander; Stope, Matthias B.
    Despite recent improvements in cancer treatment, with many of them being related to foster antitumor immunity, tumor-related deaths continue to be high. Novel avenues are needed to complement existing therapeutic strategies in oncology. Medical gas plasma technology recently gained attention due to its antitumor activity. Gas plasmas act via the local deposition of a plethora of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that promote the oxidative cancer cell death. The immunological consequences of plasma-mediated tumor cell death are only poorly understood, however. To this end, we exposed two prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC3) to gas plasma in vitro, and investigated the immunomodulatory effects of the supernatants in as well as of direct co-culturing with two human myeloid cell lines (THP-1, HL-60). After identifying the cytotoxic action of the kINPen plasma jet, the supernatants of plasma-treated prostate cancer cells modulated myeloid cell-related mitochondrial ROS production and their metabolic activity, proliferation, surface marker expression, and cytokine release. Direct co-culture amplified differentiation-like surface marker expression in myeloid cells and promoted their antitumor-toxicity in the gas plasma over the untreated control conditions. The results suggest that gas plasma-derived ROS not only promote prostate cancer cell death but also augment myeloid cell activity and cytotoxicity. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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    Differential Sensitivity of Two Leukemia Cell Lines towards Two Major Gas Plasma Products Hydrogen Peroxide and Hypochlorous Acid
    (Basel : MDPI, 2022) Singer, Debora; Miebach, Lea; Bekeschus, Sander
    Oxidative stress has major implications for health and disease. At the same time, the term collectively describes the reactions to different types of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidants, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl). However, how both compare in terms of cytotoxicity and mechanism of action is less known. Using two leukemia cell lines, Jurkat and THP-1, as model systems at similar cell concentrations, we found an 8-fold greater sensitivity of the former over the latter for H2O2 exposure. Unexpectantly, this was not the case with HOCl exposure. Jurkat cells were 2-fold more resistant to HOCl-induced cytotoxicity than THP-1 cells. In each cell type, the relatively more toxic oxidant also induced activation of caspases 3 and 7 at earlier time points, as time-lapse fluorescence microscopy revealed. The effects observed did not markedly correlate with changes in intracellular GSH and GSSG levels. In addition, siRNA-mediated knockdown of the Nrf2 target HMOX-1 encoding for HO-1 protein and the growth and survival factor IL-8 revealed Jurkat cells to become more sensitive to HOCl, while HO-1 and IL-8 siRNA-mediated knockdown in THP-1 cells produced greater sensitivity towards H2O2. siRNA-mediated knockdown of catalase increased oxidant sensitivity only negligibly. Collectively, the data suggest striking HOCl-resistance of Jurkat and H2O2 resistance of THP-1 cells, showing similar protective roles of HO-1 and IL-8, while caspase activation kinetics differ.
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    Heat Shock Protein 27 Affects Myeloid Cell Activation and Interaction with Prostate Cancer Cells
    (Basel : MDPI, 2022) Singer, Debora; Ressel, Verena; Stope, Matthias B.; Bekeschus, Sander
    Heat shock proteins are cytoprotective molecules induced by environmental stresses. The small heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is highly expressed under oxidative stress conditions, mediating anti-oxidative effects and blocking apoptosis. Since medical gas plasma treatment subjects cancer cells to a multitude of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inducing apoptosis and immunomodulation, probable effects of Hsp27 should be investigated. To this end, we quantified the extracellular Hsp27 in two prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC-3) after gas plasma-induced oxidative stress, showing a significantly enhanced release. To investigate immunomodulatory effects, two myeloid cell lines (THP-1 and HL-60) were also exposed to Hsp27. Only negligible effects on viability, intracellular oxidative milieu, and secretion profiles of the myeloid cells were found when cultured alone. Interestingly, prostate cancer-myeloid cell co-cultures showed altered secretion profiles with a significant decrease in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release. Furthermore, the myeloid surface marker profiles were changed, indicating an enhanced differentiation in co-culture upon Hsp27 treatment. Finally, we investigated morphological changes, proliferation, and interaction with prostate cancer cells, and found significant alterations in the myeloid cells, supporting the tendency to differentiate. Collectively, our results suggest an ambiguous effect of Hsp27 on myeloid cells in the presence of prostate cancer cells which needs to be further investigated.