Characterization of Damage to Bacteria and Bio-macromolecules Caused by (V)UV Radiation and Particles Generated by a Microscale Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets effectively inactivate bacteria on ­surfaces including infected tissues. This is due to the combined effects of (V)UV radiation, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, ions, and high electric fields. A well-characterized microscale atmospheric pressure plasma jet (μ-APPJ) operated with He/O₂ gas mixture has been modified so that (V)UV radiation and heavy reactive particles (mainly O₃ molecules and O atoms) emitted from the plasma source can be separated effectively. The separation is achieved by an additional lateral He flow, which diverts the heavy particles from the jet axis. The new jet geometry is called X-Jet. Separation of different plasma components allows studying their effects on living cells and bio-macromolecules separately. First, the effectiveness of the separation of different plasma components was demonstrated by treatment of monolayers of vegetative Bacillus subtilis cells. To characterize effects on nucleic acids, dried plasmid DNA and total cellular RNA were treated with the separated plasma components. Dried bovine serum albumin was used to study etching effects of (V)UV radiation and heavy particles on proteins. We found that heavy particles emitted from the X-Jet kill vegetative cells more effectively than the (V)UV radiation from this type of plasma source. All bio-macromolecules investigated, DNA, RNA, and proteins, are affected by plasma treatment. DNA exposed to the (V)UV-channel of the jet seems to be prone to thymine dimer formation not only in vitro but also in vivo as indicated by induction of the photolyase in Escherichia coli, while DNA strand breaks occur under both jet channels. Heavy particles seem more effective in degrading RNA and in etching protein in vitro.