Synthesis and characterization of plasma-treated liquid and hydrogels for bone cancer therapy
- Autores: Ines Hamouda
- Directores de la Tesis: Cristina Canal Barnils (dir. tes.), Cedric Pierre Labay (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) ( España ) en 2020
- Idioma: español
- Materias:
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- Resumen
This PhD Thesis tallies with the Starting Grant project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) entitled “Atmospheric Pressure plAsma meets biomaterials for bone Cancer HEaling” (APACHE) and has been carried out within the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering group (BBT) at the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). This project falls within in the area of Plasma Medicine, a new branch of medical technology encompassing physics, biology, medicine and chemistry. One of the main fields of interest in Plasma Medicine is cancer therapy. During the last decade, the anticancer capacity of cold plasmas has been illustrated in different cancer cell lines such as breast, skin, lung, pancreas, cervix or brain and has shown ability to kill cancer cells without damaging the surrounding tissues.
This PhD Thesis is focused on investigating potential novel vehicles of plasma-treated liquids for bone cancer with the aim to provide an alternative to the current treatments (i.e. surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and cryosurgery) that are not completely effective.
Cold plasma sources can be used to treat liquid media, thereby generating plasma-treated liquids, which can be applied to the cancer cells afterwards. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are generated from cold plasmas, which have been related to the biological effects of plasmas and plasma-treated liquids. Despite the exact mechanisms are not completely described yet, the reactive species generated are thought to be the main responsible of the biological effects of plasmas. Many of the radicals generated during the discharge can contribute to complex reactions in liquids: formation of other short and long-lived species in the solution. As plasma-treated liquids will probably be washed in the body through the blood flow when injected, another option for the reactive species transport should be employed.
Given the high capacity of hydrogels to store liquids, and their proven capacity as drug delivery agents, the use of biocompatible hydrogels will be studied in this PhD Thesis as novel vehicles for plasma-generated reactive species for bone cancer treatment. This may allow avoiding invasive surgery to the patient, as hydrogels can be used to target tumours by injection. Within this context, in this PhD Thesis the effect of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet will be investigated in liquids and hydrogels to develop novel vehicles for plasma-based therapies.
In the first place, a literature review on plasma-treated polymers for biomedical applications will be presented, with special emphasis on the future evolution and new possibilities arising in the treatment of polymer solutions or hydrogels by cold plasmas for biomedical applications.
In a first experimental step, the efficiency of direct plasma treatment will be compared to plasma treated or conditioned media with regard to their effects on healthy and cancer bone cells. The concentration of reactive species generated in cell culture media in different plasma treatment conditions will be related to the biological effects observed.
Then, the effect of plasma treatment will be carefully studied on the chemistry and physico-chemical properties of different hydrogel-forming polymers: natural (alginate), semi-synthetic (methacrylated gelatin) and synthetic (poly(oxide)ethylene based triblock copolymer) polymers. The generation, stability and release of reactive species generated in solution from plasma will be discussed regarding the different kinds of polymers with different hydrogel-forming ability employed. The potential of polymer solutions and hydrogels as reservoirs and vehicles of reactive species from cold plasmas will be examined here.
