Low-temperature atmospheric plasma increases the expression of anti-aging genes of skin cells without causing cellular damages

Jeong-Hae Choi, Hyun-Wook Lee, Jae-Koo Lee, Jin-woo Hong, Gyoo-cheon Kim

Efforts to employ various types of plasma in the field of skin care have increased consistently because it can regulate many biochemical reactions that are normally unaffected by light-based therapy. One method for skin rejuvenation adopted a high-temperature plasma generator to remove skin epithelial cells. In this case, the catalyzing effects of the plasma were rarely used due to the high temperature. Hence, the benefits of the plasma were not magnified. Recently, many types of low-temperature plasma devices have been developed for medical applications but their detailed functions and working mechanisms are unclear. The present study examined the effect of low-temperature microwave plasma on skin cells. Treatment with low-temperature plasma increased the expression of anti-aging genes in skin cells, including collagen, fibronectin and vascular endothelial growth factor. Furthermore, the plasma treatment did not cause cell death, but only induced slight cell growth arrest at the G2 phase. Although the cells treated with low-temperature plasma showed moderate growth arrest, there were no signs of thermal or genetic damage of skin cells. Overall, this low-temperature microwave plasma device induces the expressions of some anti-aging-related genes in skin cells without causing damage.