Autophagy is recently receiving the spotlight as the development strategy for promising anticancer drugs. In particular, the majority of anticancer drugs originating from natural products are known to induce autophagy. Saururus chinensis has been used for treating various inflammatory diseases. Recent research has revealed that the extract of Saururus chinensis possess cytotoxicity for various types of human cancer cells. However, the exact action mechanism of Saururus chinensis extract for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been studied yet. Therefore, the authors of this research aim to study the effect of methanol extract of S. chinensis (MESC) on OSCC cells. To observe the cell proliferation inhibitory effect of MESC on HSC3 cells, the authors conducted the trypan blue exclusion assay. Also, the action mechanism of MESC was studied by conducting the cell cycle analysis, acidic vesicular organelle (AVO) staining and flow cytometry analysis, monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining, propidium iodide staining, and Western blotting on MESC-treated HSC3 cells. When HSC3 cells were treated in MESC, the cell proliferation was suppressed in time-dependent and dose-dependent manners. Also, the number of sub-G1 arrested cells increased in a dose-dependent manner. MDC punctate and AVO puncta significantly increased respectively. Western blot analysis demonstrated the expression of autophagy-related proteins increased, but apoptotic proteins were not observed. Also, the pAkt protein was reduced, while the p-p38 protein and pERK protein increased. According to our results, MESC induced autophagy and accompanied changes in the cell cycle in HSC3 cells. Also, the alteration in Akt, ERK, and p38 pathways were confirmed. This result suggested the possibility of MESC as the new promising adjuvant for treating OSCC patients.

Natural products are vastly utilized as a source of chemotherapeutic agents for human cancers. Kochia scopraia is traditionally used for the cure of urological and dermatological diseases. Recently, methanol extract of Kochia scoparia (MEKS) has been shown to have anti-cancer activity to various human cancers. However, there is no report demonstrating the anti-cancer activity of MEKS in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) cells. In this study, the authors studied the effects of MEKS on the cell proliferation and underlying mechanism in YD15 human MEC cells. MEKS decreased YD15 cell proliferation proven by trypan blue exclusion assay and induced apoptosis, evidenced by cell cycle analysis and western blotting. Autophagy induction by MEKS was verified by western blotting. In addition, MEKS regulated the expression of phosphorylated Akt, phosphorylated p38 and Nrf2 protein. This results can imply that MEKS might be a potential candidate for the treatment of human MEC cells.

To compare functional Chinese cabbage(‘Amtak’ baechu; F1 hybrid cultivar between Brassica rapa and B. perkinensis, AB) with general Chinese cabbage (‘Chunkwang’ baechu; general spring cultivar, CB), two kinds of kimchi(ABK and CBK) prepared with AB and CB cultivar were fermented at 10°C for 10 days. Their fermentative characteristics and anti-proliferative activities against mouse carcinoma cell lines were investigated. General kimchi(CBK) showed mature pH on the 6th day of fermentation, whereas functional kimchi(ABK) reached pH on the 9th day. CBK also exhibited acidity of mature stage on the 6th day, but ABK reached mature acidity on the 9th day. Although ABK and CBK were salted in the same condition, ABK had lower salinity than CBK, throughout the fermentation time. The highest total bacterial and lactic bacterial counts of CBK showed on the 8th day of fermentation, but ABK showed the highest total bacterial and lactic bacterial counts on the 10th day. The texture of ABK was harder than CBK for fermentation time. This seems to be corrleated with the slower fermentation rate of ABK. ABK showed significantly higher anti-proliferative activity (54.6% cell viability of control) in B16BL6 at 1,000 μg/mL. ABK was also higher in anti-proliferative activity than CBK throughout the fermentation time. However, there was no significant difference in the anti-proliferative activity of ABK between the fermentation times. In conclusion, fermentation of ABK showed a better texture, due to the slow fermentation rate and more anti-proliferative activity against mouse carcinoma cell line than those of CBK.

Hippo signaling is one of the signal transduction pathways revealed in Drosophila and mammalian. This signaling is known to control proliferation and growth of normal cells or cancer cells, in which many signaling proteins form a network. In this network, tumor suppressor kinases include MST and LATS while YAP and TAZ exist as oncoproteins. Combined with transcription factor, YAP the oncoprotien starts to secrete growth factors such as CTGF, FGF, and Cry61 regulating the growth of cells or the organ sizes. The YAP is also associated with the development of early embryo and the regeneration of the skin wound as well as abnormal growth of cancers in case of over-expression. Although many previous studies have found various tumors with YAP over-expressed, the expression of YAP is not yet clearly identified in oral cancer. The aim of this study was to check the expression level of YAP in oral squamous cell carcinoma. So we performed PCR and Western blot to check YAP expression in mRNA and protein level respectively. In result, all of the 13 cell lines examined has presented the expression of YAP, and especially in HSC2 and KOSCC11 cell lines has been observed the remarkable level of expression. In conclusion, we confirmed the overexpression of YAP cell line in oral squamous cell carcinoma, it will be a great help to the study carried out in the future. Once you understand the mechanism of oncoprotien YAP in oral cancer cells, it seems possible to research and development of targeted tumor therapy agents in oral cancer.

Shikonin, a major ingredient in the traditional Chinese herb Lithospermumerythrorhizon, exhibits multiple biological functions including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor effects. It has recently been reported that shikonin displays antitumor properties in many cancers. This study was aimed to investigate whether shikonin could inhibit oral squamous carcinoma cell (OSCC) growth via mechanisms of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The effects of shikonin on the viability and growth of OSCC cell line, SCC25 cells were assessed by MTT assay and clonogenic assays, respectively. Hoechst staining and DNA electrophoresis indicated that the shikonin-treated SCC25 cells were undergoing apoptosis. Western blotting, immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, MMP activity, and proteasome activity also supported the finding that shikonin induces apoptosis. Shikonin treatment of SCC25 cells resulted in a time- and dose-dependent decrease in cell viability, inhibition of cell growth, and increase in apoptotic cell death. The treated SCC25 cells showed several lines of apoptotic manifestation as follows: nuclear condensation; DNA fragmentation; reduced MMP and proteasome activity; decrease in DNA contents; release of cytochrome c into cytosol; translocation of AIF and DFF40 (CAD) onto the nuclei; a significant shift in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio; and activation of caspase-9, -7, -6, and -3, as well as PARP, lamin A/C, and DFF45 (ICAD). Shikonin treatment also resulted in down-regulation of the G1 cell cycle-related proteins and up-regulation of p27KIP1. Taken together, our present findings demonstrate that shikonin strongly inhibits cell proliferation by modulating the expression of the G1 cell cycle-related proteins, and that it induces apoptosis via the proteasome, mitochondria, and caspase cascades in SCC25 cells.

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a component of propolis, was reported to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-tumor activities. Our aim was to investigate the effect of CAPE on apoptosis in cultured human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) cell line, MC-3. Apoptotic effects of CAPE were measured by cell viability assays, Western blotting, 4’-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and Live/Dead assay. The result of cell viability assay showed that CAPE displayed a strong growth-inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner against MC-3 cells. Consumption of CAPE resulted in pronounced increase in the cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP, induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation and clearly increased the number of dead cells in MC-3 cells. CAPE also caused the increase in truncated Bid (t-Bid) and the cleavage of caspase-8 and this phenomenon was regulated by death receptor 5 (DR5). In addition, Phosphorylation of AKT and ERK were downregulated by CAPE. Taken together, these results suggest that CAPE is a potent apoptosis-inducing agent in MC-3 cells.

Curcumin is a widely used flavoring agent in food, and it has been reported to inhibit cell growth, to induce apoptosis, and to have antitumor activity in many cancers. Cisplatin is one of the most potent known anticancer agents and shows significant clinical activity against a variety of solid tumors. This study was undertaken to investigate the synergistic apoptotic effects of co-treatment with curcumin and cisplatin on human tongue SCC25 cells. To investigate whether the co-treatment efficiently reduced the viability of the SCC25 cells compared with the two treatments separately, an MTT assay was conducted. The induction and the augmentation of apoptosis were confirmed by DNA electrophoresis, Hoechst staining, and an analysis of DNA hypoploidy. Western blot, MMP and immunofluorescence tests were also performed to evaluate the expression levels and the translocation of apoptosis-related proteins following the co-treatment. In this study, following the co-treatment with curcumin and cisplatin, the SCC25 cells showed several forms of apoptotic manifestation, such as nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, reduction of MMP, increased levels of Bax, decreased levels of Bcl-2, and decreased DNA content. In addition, they showed a release of cytochrome c into the cytosol, translocation of AIF and DFF40 (CAD) to the nuclei, and activation of caspase-7, caspase-3, PARP, and DFF45 (ICAD). In contrast, separate treatments of 5 μM of curcumin or 4 μg/ml of cisplatin, for 24 hours, did not induce apoptosis. Therefore, our data suggest that combination therapy with curcumin and cisplatin could be considered as a novel therapeutic strategy for human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Several studies have shown that curcumin, which is derived from the rhizomes of turmeric, possesses antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The antitumor properties of curcumin have also now been demonstrated more recently in different cancers. This study was undertaken to investigate the modulation of cell cycle-related proteins and the mechanisms underlying apoptosis induction by curcumin in the SCC25 human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line. Curcumin treatment of the SCC25 cells resulted in a time- and dose-dependent reduction in cell viability and cell growth, and onset of apoptotic cell death. The curcumin-treated SCC25 cells showed several types of apoptotic manifestations, such as nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, reduced MMP and proteasome activity, and a decreased DNA content. In addition, the treated SCC25 cells showed a release of cytochrome c into the cytosol, translocation of AIF and DFF40/CAD into the nuclei, a significant shift in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and the activation of caspase-9, caspase-7, caspase-6, caspase-3, PARP, lamin A/C, and DFF45/ICAD. Furthermore, curcumin exposure resulted in a downregulation of G1 cell cycle-related proteins and upregulation of p27KIP1. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that curcumin strongly inhibits cell proliferation by modulating the expression of G1 cell cycle-related proteins and inducing apoptosis via proteasomal, mitochondrial, and caspase cascades in SCC25 cells.

New therapeutic measure are needed to improve the outcome for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) because OSCC continues to portend a relatively unfavorable prognosis. Recently RNA interference(RNAi) has emerged as an effective method to target specific genes for silencing. Although overexpression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor(uPAR) has been implicated in progression and metastasis of OSCC, the transfection effect of RNAi- uPAR on OSCC has been rarely reported. The purpose of this study were to examine the efficient and specific inhibition of uPAR mRNA and protein expression by siRNA targeting of uPAR through RT-PCR and immunoslot blotting, and to study cell proliferation activity, adhesion, invasion and migration in vitro compared to the controls. In MTT assay, siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 70-80% cell proliferation compared to OSCC cell lines after 2 days. In adhesion assay, siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 20-30% adhesion activity compared to OSCC cell lines, but similar features to those of BSA coated wells. In migration assay, siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 60% migration activity compared to OSCC cell lines, but higher 3.5 folds to those of BSA coated wells. In invasion assay, siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 55% invasive activity compared to parental cell lines. mRNA expression of siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 10-15 % compared to parental cell lines by RT-PCR. Protein expression of siRNA-uPAR transfected cells showed about 25% compared to parental cell lines by ELISA assay. It suggested that RNAi-uPAR tranfection might be used as a potent and specific therapeutic tool for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma, especially in inhibiting invasion and metastasis.

Tumor cell biological factors, such as urokinase plasminogen activator(uPA) and its inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor- 1(PAI-1) play a role in tumor invasion, metastasis, and proliferation. These factors in patients with primary oral squamous cell carcinoma(Oral SCC) will be evaluated and correlated with clinicopathologic variables. However, relatively rarely has been known in oral squamous cell carcinoma in vivo and in vitro study . The purpose of this study were to investigate the protein expression of uPA and PAI-1 in oral SCC cell lines cell line compared to NHOK and to study migration and adhesion assay. All the cell lines were cultured under KBM bullet kit at 37℃ in a 5% CO2 incubator. We studied a possible association between cytosolic uPA and PA-1 concentrations in oral SCC cell line compared to NHOK using an enzyme-linked immunoassay(ELISA). Cell adhesion and migration assay were done in all the cell l ines. In migration assay oral SCC cell lines were about 70 folds higher than NHOK. In adhesion assay oral SCC cell line were about 7-12 folds higher than NHOK. uPA cy tosolic concentrations was about 15-19 folds and PAI-1 was 3 to 4.5 folds than that of NHOK. Both uPA and PAI-1 concentrations were correlated with migration and adhesion assay. High cytosolic concentrations o f uPA and PAI-1 were correlated with migration and adhesion assay . It suggested that these markers might be specific for oral SCC cell line and these results would be contributed to treatment and prognosis of human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality worldwide. It is generally thought that adjuvant chemotherapy provides modest prolongation of survival in various carcinoma. Docetaxel (Taxotere, TXT) play a significant role in the treatment of various solid tumors of epithelial origin. CsA (immunosuppressive drug) was widely used as adjunct for the treatment of cancer. Thus, it is important to pursue the apoptosis of IHOK and oral SCC induced by TXT combined with CsA related to the pathogenesis of oral SCC. But TXT combined CsA effect on IHOK and oral SCC remains unclear. After cultured IHOK and HN 22 oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line treated by 10 nM TXT and 1 μM, and caspase inhobitor, respectively, apoptosis index, cytochrome c and caspase-3 -8, -9 mRNA expression by RT-PCR, and procaspase-3 protein amount by immunoslot blotting was prepared. The purpose of this study were to examine the TXT-induced apoptosis pathway via caspase activation by CsA enhancement, and to apply these results to an effective therapeutic treatment plan for oral SCC by TXT combined CsA . 10 nM TXT showed about 60%, 55% celluar apoptosis of IHOK and HN 22, cell line, respectively, while CsA alone did not induce apoptosis in IHOK and HN 22 cell line. 1 μM CsA combined with 10 nM TXT increased apoptosis in IHOK and HN 22 cell line through caspase-3 and cytochrome c mRNA expression, while could not effect on caspase-8 and -9. Caspase inhibitor suppressed apoptosis of IHOK and HN 22 cell line induced by a combination of 1 μM CsA and 10 nM TXT. Immnoslot blotting showed procaspase-3 activation by a combination 1 μM CsA and 10 nM TXT, while caspase inhibitor inhibited activation. It suggested that a combination of CsA and TXT might induce increased apoptosis of IHOK and HN 22 oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line through caspase-3 activation. This treatment with a combination of TXT and CsA may be an effective therapeutic strategy for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Chios gum mastic (CGM) is a resin produced from the stem and leaves of Pistiacia lentiscus L var chia, a plant which grows only on Chios Island in Greece. CGM has been used for many centuries as a dietary supplement and folk medicine for stomach and duodenal ulcers in many Mediterranean countries and is known also to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in some cancer cells. In this study, we further investigated the induction and mechanisms underlying the apoptotic response to CGM treatment in the SCC25 human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line. The viability of SCC25 cells, human normal keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) and human gingival fibroblasts (HGF-1 cells), and the growth inhibition of SCC25 cells were assessed by MTT assay and clonogenic assay, respectively. Staining with Hoechst and hemacolor dyes and TUNEL assays were employed to detect SCC25 cells undergoing apoptosis. SCC25 cells were treated with CGM, and this was followed by western blotting, immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, FACScan flow cytometry, MMP activity and proteasome activity analyses. CGM treatment of SCC25 cells was found to result in a time- and dosedependent decrease in cell viability, a dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth, and apoptotic cell death. Interestingly, CGM showed a remarkable level of cytotoxicity in SCC25 cells but not in normal cells. Tested SCC25 cells also showed several lines of apoptotic manifestation. Taken together, our present findings demonstrate that CGM strongly inhibits cell proliferation by modulating the expression of G1 cell cycle-related proteins and induces apoptosis via the proteasome, mitochondria and caspase cascades in SCC25 cells.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignancy and is a major cause of worldwide cancer mortality. The proto-oncogene c-myb plays an important role in regulation of cell growth and differentiation, and it is expressed at high levels in hematopoietic cells and many other types of cancers. However, the function of c-myb is not well known in OSCC. The present study aimed to reveal the function of c-myb and to test the alternation of cell growth and signaling by c-myb in OSCC. In this study, c-myb and dominant-negatibe myb(DNmyb) were expressed in an adenovirus-mediated gene delivery system to KB cells. The over-expressed c-myb brought increased cellular proliferation compared with control cells. However, DN-myb infected KB cells showed significant reduction of cell growth and enhanced induction of apoptosis to activate PARP and caspase 9. c-myb induced increase of IGF-I, -II and IGF-IR expressions while DN-myb down-regulated these expression. Activation of ERK and Akt/PKB pathway was shown only in c-myb transduced cells. These findings suggest that the role of c-myb in cell growth of oral cancer cells is partially mediated through the modulation of IGFs, ERK and Akt/PKB. From this results, DN-myb is strongly recommended as a curable gene for the treatment of c-myb dependent malignancies such as OSCC.

Oral squamous carcinoma (OSC) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the oral mucosa. Although the etiology of OSC is not fully understood, accumulated evidences indicate that the activation of proto-oncogenes and the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes underlie the disease development. An OSC cell line, YD-9 was newly established and characterized. However, the mutational analysis of p53 gene was not performed. Thus, in this study, the presence of mutation in the p53 gene was examined by amplification of exon-4 to -8 and subsequent DNA sequencing. Two point mutations were found in exon-4 and -6: A to G, resulting in amino acid change Tyr to Cys in exon-4, and C to G, resulting in amino acid change Gly to Arg in exon-6, respectively. Any mutation was not found in the exon-5, -7 and -8. The presented results would contribute to basic research to understand the biological mechanism of OSC using YD-9 cells.

Although a number of molecules have been implicated in the metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) , the precise molecular mechanisms that deterrnine the direction of rnigration and invasiveness of OSCC cells into the lymph nodes remain unclear, Chemokines are a superfarnily of small structurally related heparin- binding proteins‘ which have been identified as attractants that control the rnigration of leukocytes‘ especia lly during imrnune and inflammatory reactlOns Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that several types 。f cancer express chemokine receptor‘s and use chemokines to metastasize to the target organ, However, there h ave been few reports on biological behaviors by downregulation 0 1' CXCR-4 in ora l cancel‘ cells We tried to screen several OSCC cell lines in order to obtain a suitable cell line model which had the cha ract eris tic of the constitutive ly expressed state of CXCR• 4 Of the several OSCC cell lines, only KOSCC-25B showed the high expression of CXCR-4 in both RT-PCR and Western blot analysis, siRNA-CXCR-4 infected subclones of KOSCC-25B(Si, 3‘ Si 1이 showed downregulation of CXCR-4 expression as expected‘ At serum-free co ndi tion‘ Si.3 s ubclone s ignif icantly decreased cell proliferations at 24 h and 48h and Si, lO subclone significant ly dec reased cell proliferations at 24 h Si ,3 clone dec reased to 67 ,4% and Si,lO clone to 65 ,5% in comparison to vector infected cells These data suggest that the downregulation of CXCR-4 expression could induce anti-rnigratory and ant i- rni g ratory effect

Epitheli a l mesenchymal interaction(EMl) is well known to be essential in eznbryonic deve]opment. wound hea]jng a nd ca rci nogenes is. Th is study was a i med to design in vi tro model for the investigation of protein analysis in epithe li al a ncl mesenchyma l i nteract ion(EMI) . This stucly usecl oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line(YD-lOB) . 1'0 investigate the clifference 0 1' protei n ex press ion of cancel‘ cells influencecl by variable in vitro conditions. three different models were des ig necl ; Collagen gel- basecl ca ncer cell culture model devoid of fibroblasts(C) , Direct coτulture moclel(M2) composed of ca ncer cells beneath co ll agen gel embeclded with Swiss 31'3 fibroblasts ‘ and Indi rect co-culture model(Ml) with collagen layer betwecn cancel‘ cells and collagen gel with f lbroblasts Two-dimensional electrophoresis was performed to compa re t he diffe r ence of protein express ion pattern of ca ncer cells aznong three znodel systems. Protein identification was done by MALDI-TOF. As res ults ‘ pl'O te in express ion pat tem of cancel' cells was quite different between znonolayer cul ture and coll agen gel based cultu re. Aclditiona ll y. protein expression was different between culture models with fi broblasts and without fibroblasts a ncl between ind irect contact and direct contact of two cell types ‘ Among differentia l prot ei n spots. catheps in D WäS iuenLifï ed by MALDl• TOF Cathepsin D exprcssion was increased from C model to 11띠 and M2 model by West em blott ing. suggest ing that cathe psi n D expression may be activated by direct and indirect stimulation of stromal fï broblas ts F' rom these resul ts ‘ these models could be appropriate for EMI study and cathepsin D mi ght be incluced by fi broblasts s timulation