Combined Effect of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) and Plasma on Proliferation of HepG2 Cells

Abstract

It is found that proliferation of HepG2 cells is promoted in the N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and plasma cotreatment group while the group without NAC undergoes cell apoptosis or cell death after plasma treatment. Further investigation found that NAC and plasma cotreatment accelerates the G1 to S phase transition of HepG2 cells and cyclinD1, which responds for the proliferation, is shown to be significantly up-regulated in the NAC and plasma cotreatment group. This finding provides a rationale for developing a proliferation-promotion approach and sheds new sights on the potential application of cold plasmas such as large-scale culture of stem cells in vitro for stem cell transplantation, enhancing transplanted tissue incorporation.