title: Induction of apoptosis in human oral cancer cell lines, OC2 and TSCCa, by chingwaysan.
abstract: Chingwaysan, a Chinese herbal formula, contains Cimicfugae Rhizoma, Rehmanniae Radixet Rhizoma, Moutan Radicis Cortex, Coptidis Rhizoma and Angelicae Sinensis Radix. This medicine is well-known for its curing power for ulcerated gums, toothaches, cheek boils and bleeding gingiva. However, no reports can be found on its application in the treatment of oral cancers. We are therefore interested in whether Chingwaysan is capable of causing abnormal apoptosis processes, and whether this condition can be rectified through Chingwaysan herb treatment. We used aqueous extract to treat OC2 and TSCCa cells (both are human oral cancer cell lines) with different Chingwaysan concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 microl/ml). The MTT (3, (4, 5-dimethyl-thiazol) 2, 5-diphenyl-tetraxolium bromide) reduction assay was employed to quantify the differences in cell activity and viability. DNA ladder formation on agarose electrophoresis was also performed. The bax expression level was monitored using immunoblotting techniques. The patterns of the changes in expression were scanned and analyzed by NIH image 1.56 software. Taken together, drastic morphological changes, reduced cell viability and the presence of inter-nucleosomal DNA fragmentation all indicated that Chingwaysan is capable of inducing apoptosis in OC2 and TSCCa cell lines. Furthermore, the accumulation of wild type bax protein significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner upon treatment with Chingwaysan. In conclusion, Chingwaysan can induce apoptosis via a bax-dependent pathway in cells from these two particular oral cancer cell lines.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Stomatology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pao-Hsin
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Shiow-Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hung-Che
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Ming-Yung
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chou
mesh_terms: D029971:Angelica sinensis; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D000089042:Coptis chinensis; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005881:Gingiva / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics; D032267:Rehmannia; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
chemical_list: C494826:BAX protein, human; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; C044613:angelicae sinensis extract; C107393:Coptidis rhizoma extract