Department of Dermatology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia, China.
Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohehot 010000, Inner Mongolia, China.
Cancer Biomark. 2018;21(4):797-803. doi: 10.3233/CBM-170495.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the most common skin cancers. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a non-invasive treatment for SCC, but it is usually effective only on tumors just under the skin. Resveratrol (Res) is a polyphenolic compound, which is capable of promoting apoptosis of a variety of cancer cells. Res administration is non-invasive and effective on SCC, thus it may be used as an adjuvant for PDT. So far, there is no published study investigating the combination use of PDT with Res to improve clinical outcome of SCC. So in this study, we will examine the effectiveness of combined treatment of PDT and Res as well as its underlying mechanism.
The human HaCaT keratinocytes and human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells were treated with ALA-PDT or/and Res, and cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by MTT and flow cytometry respectively afterwards. p-ERK, p38, p53 and caspase-3 protein expression was examined by western blot. Then a p38 inhibitor was added to test the involvement of p38 pathway in A431 cells responding to ALA-PDT and Res treatments.
The results showed that Res could enhance the effect of ALA-PDT on cell proliferation and apoptosis in A431 cells. We also found that the expression of p-ERK, p-p38, p53 and caspase-3 was increased. However, inhibition of p38 pathway attenuated the effect of Res.
Our study demonstrated that Res could enhance the effect of ALA-PDT against skin cancer cells through p38/ MAPK pathway.
鳞状细胞癌（SCC）是最常见的皮肤癌之一。光动力疗法（PDT）是一种非侵入性治疗 SCC 的方法，但它通常仅对皮肤下的肿瘤有效。白藜芦醇（Res）是一种多酚化合物，能够促进多种癌细胞的凋亡。Res 给药是非侵入性的，对 SCC 有效，因此它可以用作 PDT 的辅助剂。到目前为止，还没有发表的研究探讨 PDT 与 Res 联合使用以改善 SCC 的临床结果。因此，在这项研究中，我们将检查 PDT 和 Res 联合治疗的有效性及其潜在机制。
用 ALA-PDT 和/或 Res 处理人 HaCaT 角质形成细胞和人 A431 表皮癌细胞，分别用 MTT 和流式细胞术评估细胞增殖和凋亡。用 Western blot 检测 p-ERK、p38、p53 和 caspase-3 蛋白表达。然后加入 p38 抑制剂，以测试 p38 通路在 A431 细胞对 ALA-PDT 和 Res 处理的反应中的参与。
结果表明，Res 可以增强 ALA-PDT 对 A431 细胞增殖和凋亡的作用。我们还发现 p-ERK、p-p38、p53 和 caspase-3 的表达增加。然而，p38 通路的抑制减弱了 Res 的作用。
我们的研究表明，Res 可以通过 p38/MAPK 通路增强 ALA-PDT 对皮肤癌细胞的作用。
