Effect of verbascoside on apoptosis and metastasis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Despite significant advances in therapy, the 5-year survival rates for patients with advanced stage oral cancers still remains poor as an appropriate treatment has not been found yet, due to side effects of chemo/radiotherapy. Verbascoside (VB), a major bioactive constituent of the Tsoong herb, displays pharmacological properties by exhibiting anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. However, the underlining function and mechanism of VB in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. In this study, we show that VB significantly decreased the viability and metastasis of HN4 and HN6 tumor cells, while promoting apoptosis. A xenograft OSCC mouse model further showed that intraperitoneal injection of VB strongly inhibited growth and lung metastasis of implanted tumor cells. Immunoblot analysis confirmed that VB effectively suppressed nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation and downstream Bcl-2/Bcl-XL expression, resulting in increased OSCC cell apoptosis. In addition, VB suppressed mRNA and protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 via suppression of NF-κB activation, thereby inhibiting tumor cell metastasis. Inspiringly, compared to cisplatin-treated group, VB is a biocompatible agent without signficant side effects in vivo. Collectively, our results demonstrate that VB effectively inhibits OSCC tumor cell growth and metastasis via suppression of IκB kinase complex (IKK)/NF-κB-related signaling activation, suggesting that VB has potential use as a potent anticancer agent in OSCC therapeutic strategies.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor promotes the invasion and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma through matrix metalloprotein‐2/9

“…However, local recurrence and regional or distant metastasis are commonly encountered despite ongoing advances in surgical techniques and adjuvant therapies . The 5‐year overall survival rate remains unfavorable, which is only 20% for late‐stage patients, because of the invasion of the neighboring tissues and metastasis to the neck lymph nodes . The poor prognosis of patients with OSCC highlights the need to elucidate the molecular of OSCC evolution process and identify new therapeutic biomarkers of OSCC.…”

Vitamin C Promotes Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…As the eighth largest malignant tumor in the world, the main causes of OSCC include smoking, drinking, and viral infection (3,4). At present, OSCC requires comprehensive treatment involving surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy (5). However, despite contemporary surgical techniques and integrated therapeutic strategies, such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, and gefitinib, the overall 5-year survival rate of OSCC remains at 50-60% (5,6).…”

“…At present, OSCC requires comprehensive treatment involving surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy (5). However, despite contemporary surgical techniques and integrated therapeutic strategies, such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, and gefitinib, the overall 5-year survival rate of OSCC remains at 50-60% (5,6). Therefore, the search for new drugs with few side effects and high efficacy is in demand in order to treat OSCC patients.…”

Acteoside as a potential therapeutic option for primary hepatocellular carcinoma: a preclinical study

“…Mounting evidence has shown the antitumor effects of acteoside in various tumor cells such as B16 melanoma cells, glioblastoma cells, colorectal cancer cells, oral squamous cell carcinoma cells, prostate cancer cells and human breast adenocarcinoma cells [11][12][13][23][24][25] or in animals bearing tumors [12]. Despite that, few studies have focused on the effects of acteoside on HCC in vitro or in vivo except one study using diethylnitrosamine as the carcinogen to induce hepatocarcinogenesis in rats and revealing the chemoprevention by acteoside [26].…”