Emodin is a bioactive compound isolated from the root and rhizomes of Rheum plamatum L. (polygenaceae), which is known as a traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. In the present study, the effect of emodin on YD-15 mucoepidermoid carcinoma cells and its molecular mechanism were investigated. This study shows that emodin significantly inhibits the growth of YD-15 cells. Activation of caspase-3 and PARP is triggered by emodin and it increases sub-G1 population and the number of YD-15 cells with nuclear condensation and fragmentation. In addition, we found that emodin significantly decreases myeloid cell leukemia 1(MCL-1). These results suggest that MCl-1 is an important molecule for emodin-induced apoptosis. Taken together, emodin inhibits cell viability and induces apoptosis via down-regulation of MCL-1 and it can be a new potent anticancer drug candidate for the treatment of mucoepidermoid carcinoma

I. INTRODUCTION
 II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
  1. Reagents
  2. Cell Culture and Drug Treatment
  3. MTS assay
  4. FACS analysis for cell cycle regulation
  5. Western blotting
  6. DAPI Staining
  7. Statistical analysis
 III. RESULTS
 IV. DISCUSSION
 V. REFERENCES

• 최경희(Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Chonbuk National University) | Kyeong Hee Choi
• 조남표(Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Chonbuk National University) | Nam Pyo Cho
• 조성대(Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Chonbuk National University) | Sung Dae Cho