Ficus carica L. (fig ) is one of the first cultivated crops and is as old as humans. This plant has been extensively used as a traditional medicine for treating diseases, such as cough, indigestion, nutritional anemia, and tuberculosis. However, the physiological activity of fig leaves on oral cancer is as yet unknown. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effect of methanol extracts of Ficus carica (MeFC) and the mechanism of cell death in human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. MeFC decreased the viability of oral cancer (FaDu) cells but did not affect the viability of normal (L929) cells, as determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and Live and Dead assay. In addition, MeFC induced apoptosis through the proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -9, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), downregulation of Bcl-2, and upregulation of Bax, as determined by 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride staining and western blot analysis. Moreover, a concentration of MeFC without cytotoxicity (0.25 mg/mL) significantly suppressed colony formation, a hallmark of cancer development, and completely inhibited the colony formation at 1 mg/mL. Collectively, these results suggest that MeFC exhibits a potent anticancer effect by suppressing the growth of oral cancer cells and colony formation via caspase- and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways in FaDu human hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. Therefore, the methanol extract of Ficus carcica leaves provide a natural chemotherapeutic drug for human oral cancer.

Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. 실험재료
    2. 무화과 잎(Leaf of Ficus carica L.) 메탄올추출물 제조 방법
    3. 세포 배양
    4. 세포 생존 효과 분석
    5. Colony formation
    6. Live & dead assay
    7. DAPI stain
    8. 단백질 면역 발색법
    9. 실험자료의 통계학적 검정
Results
    1. MeFC에 대한 마우스 섬유아세포 L-929의 독성 평가
    2. MeFC에 의한 사람 인두 편평암세포 FaDu의 성장억제 효과
    3. Live & dead 염색을 이용한 MeFC에 의한 FaDu 암세포의세포사멸
    4. DAPI 염색을 이용한 MeFC에 의한 FaDu의 세포핵 형태변화
    5. MeFC에 의한 FaDu 암세포의 세포사멸에 관여하는 단백질발현
Discussion
References

• Seul Ah Lee(Department of Oral Biochemistry, College of Dentistry, Chosun University)
• Bo-Ram Park(Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health and Welfare, Kyungwoon University)
• Chun Sung Kim(Department of Oral Biochemistry, College of Dentistry, Chosun University) Correspondence to