探討荳蔻明誘導人類口腔癌細胞凋亡之機制

口腔癌是台灣男性常見的癌症之一，以鱗狀細胞癌最為常見，佔口腔癌的95%以上。荳蔻明 (cardamonin) 屬於查耳酮類化合物，具有抗腫瘤、抗發炎、抗氧化的作用。許多研究指出cardamonin對多種癌症細胞具有抑制作用，但在口腔癌細胞凋亡方面的研究並不多。因此，本研究探討cardamonin對人類口腔癌細胞凋亡的影響並探討相關調控機制，利用不同濃度的cardamonin處理人類口腔鱗狀癌細胞株SAS細胞；首先，利用細胞存活試驗發現會抑制口腔癌細胞的存活，並利用Annexin V-FITC/PI將細胞染色後再以流式細胞儀觀察到cardamonin會促進口腔癌細胞凋亡作用。此外，以螢光染色觀察細胞凋亡關鍵蛋白caspase-3的變化，結果顯示cardamonin確實會增加caspase-3蛋白的活化表現，透過西方墨點法來探究cardamonin對口腔癌細胞凋亡相關蛋白的影響，實驗發現能夠促進口腔癌細胞細胞凋亡及MAPK路徑相關蛋白的表達。結果表明cardamonin確實能誘導人類口腔癌細胞凋亡的發生，但其相關調控機制還需後續實驗釐清，期望未來能作為治療口腔癌的協同藥物。

Oral cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers among men in Taiwan. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for more than 95% of all oral malignancies. Cardamonin is a chalconoid which has the properties of anti-tumor, antioxidant, and anti-imflammatory. Previous studies have indicated that the cardamonin may have inhibitory effects toward various cancers. However, the apoptotic effect of cardamonin on oral cancer cell remained not well investigated. Therefore, in our study, we focused on the apoptotic effect of cardamonin to oral cancer cell, and try to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms. The human OSCC cell line SAS was treated with different concentration of cardamonin. At first, we discovered a concentration and time-dependent decrease in SAS cell growth using MTT assay. Subsequently, the cardamonin was observed to promotes oral cancer cell apoptosis evaluated by flow cytometry using Annexin V FITC/PI staining assay. Furthermore, the increase of caspase-3 activation following cardamonin treatment was identified with fluorescent staining. The western blot assay was utilized to assess the expression of apoptotic protein and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway of SAS cells, and we found that the cardamonin treatment was associated with increased expression of apoptotic protein and MAPK signaling. Our results have demonstrated that the cardamonin could induce apoptosis in oral cancer cells. However, future well-designed studies are required to elucidate the exact regulatory mechanisms. The cardamonin may play a role as potential candidate of synergistic drug for oral cancer treatments in the future.