Helium Cold Atmospheric Plasma Causes Morphological and Biochemical Alterations in <i>Candida albicans</i> Cells
Sabrina de Moura Rovetta-Nogueira,
Aline Chiodi Borges,
Maurício de Oliveira Filho,
Thalita Mayumi Castaldelli Nishime,
Luis Rogerio de Oliveira Hein,
Konstantin Georgiev Kostov,
Cristiane Yumi Koga-Ito
Affiliations
Sabrina de Moura Rovetta-Nogueira
Oral Biopathology Graduate Program, Department of Environment Engineering, São José dos Campos Institute of Science & Technology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São José dos Campos 12247-016, SP, Brazil
Aline Chiodi Borges
Oral Biopathology Graduate Program, Department of Environment Engineering, São José dos Campos Institute of Science & Technology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São José dos Campos 12247-016, SP, Brazil
Maurício de Oliveira Filho
Department of Materials and Technology, Guaratinguetá Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Guaratinguetá 12516-410, SP, Brazil
Thalita Mayumi Castaldelli Nishime
Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
Luis Rogerio de Oliveira Hein
Department of Materials and Technology, Guaratinguetá Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Guaratinguetá 12516-410, SP, Brazil
Konstantin Georgiev Kostov
Department of Physics, Guaratinguetá Faculty of Engineering, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Guaratinguetá 12516-410, SP, Brazil
Cristiane Yumi Koga-Ito
Oral Biopathology Graduate Program, Department of Environment Engineering, São José dos Campos Institute of Science & Technology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São José dos Campos 12247-016, SP, Brazil
(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.
