Inactivation process of HeLa cell by exposure to a plasma-treated medium

In this study, we focused on an inactivation process of HeLa cells by generated chemical species in a culture medium using a plasma flow. The plasma flow was formed between a platinum needle electrode 0.3 mm in diameter and the surface of the culture medium with 7.5 kV of positive voltage for 210 seconds. When the cells were incubated continuously in the treated culture medium, all of them were damaged and underwent necrosis within 13 hours. To identify the inactivation factor among chemical species, the effect of H2O2 on the inactivation process of HeLa cells was investigated. The trends of cell survival rate and morphological change were comparable between them. These results indicated that H2O2 is one of key factors to inactivate cells.