The microbiological laboratories offer the facilities for the characterisations of atmospheric pressure plasma sources with regard to their antimicrobial efficacy as well as antiviral efficacy in L2 laboratories. For this experimental work, the laboratories are equipped for all common microbiological tests:

• Safety cabinets for sterile work
• Spiral plate system for automated determination of live cell counts
• Spectrophotometer for colorimetric detection methods and determination of optical density
• Fluorescence microscopy
• Central gas supply with gas flow controller
• Facilities to determine the antimicrobial effect on sensitive materials, medical devices, food, etc.
• Determination of antimicrobial sensitivity (antibiogram)
• Culture of anaerobe or microaerophile microorganisms

The INPs strain collection includes a variety of bacteria and yeasts, which are cultivated as required for the individual experiments. Plasma sources to be tested can be set up in the laboratories and be connected to the in-house gas supply (argon, He, N2, O2, CO2 etc.). Permission to handle pathogens has been issued (§ 44 IfSG; § 49 IfSG and § 13 BioStoffV (2000/54/EG and 2010/32/EU)).

Several S2 laboratories are available within the cell biology area to perform molecular and cell biological analyses on the effect of plasma on metabolism, viability and expression patterns to underpin clinical applications or to develop new applications. For these analyses, the laboratories are equipped with the following methods:

• Cell culture, cytotoxicity assays, in vitro wound healing assays (e.g. scratch assay).
• Quantitative and qualitative protein analysis by Western blots, protein simple, ELISA, 1D and 2D gel electrophoresis
• Histochemical and immunohistochemical workstation (IF, ICH)
• Gene expression analysis by microarrays, qPCR, gene transfer systems
• Fluorescence microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, life cell imaging
• Further technical specifications can be found at application lab life scienc

The interaction of plasmas in, on or with liquids plays a central role in many different applications, which are particularly relevant in plasma medicine, plasma pharmacy, (waste) water treatment or plasma agriculture. The effectiveness depends to a large extend on the type and mode of action of the plasma generation and the reactive species introduced. The following methods are available for qualitative and quantitative analysis:

• UV and FTIR spectroscopy
• spectrophotometer
• Ion chromatography
• Electrochemical analyses, voltammetry
• Total organic compound analyzer (TOC analyzer)
• LC-MS, GC-MS
• HPLC etc.