Rovetta-Nogueira SDM, Borges AC, de Oliveira Filho M, Nishime TMC, Hein LRDO, Kostov KG, Koga-Ito CY. Helium Cold Atmospheric Plasma Causes Morphological and Biochemical Alterations in
Candida albicans Cells.
Molecules 2023;
28:7919. [PMID:
38067648 PMCID:
PMC10707892 DOI:
10.3390/molecules28237919]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Previous studies reported the promising inhibitory effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on Candida albicans. However, the exact mechanisms of CAP's action on the fungal cell are still poorly understood. This study aims to elucidate the CAP effect on C. albicans cell wall, by evaluating the alterations on its structure and biochemical composition; (2) Methods: C. albicans cells treated with Helium-CAP were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in order to detect morphological, topographic and biochemical changes in the fungal cell wall. Cells treated with caspofungin were also analyzed for comparative purposes; (3) Results: Expressive morphological and topographic changes, such as increased roughness and shape modification, were observed in the cells after CAP exposure. The alterations detected were similar to those observed after the treatment with caspofungin. The main biochemical changes occurred in polysaccharides content, and an overall decrease in glucans and an increase in chitin synthesis were detected; (4) Conclusions: Helium-CAP caused morphological and topographic alterations in C. albicans cells and affected the cell wall polysaccharide content.
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