Department of Radiation Oncology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan 736, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan 711, Taiwan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 28;20(21):5366. doi: 10.3390/ijms20215366.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and accounts for over 90% of malignant neoplasms of the oral cavity, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. The long-term survival rate of OSCC patients has not markedly improved in recent decades due to its heterogeneous etiology and treatment outcomes. We investigated the anticancer effect of the combination of irradiation (IR) and cordycepin in the treatment of human OSCC cells in vitro. The type of cell death, especially autophagy and apoptosis, and the underlying mechanisms were examined. We found synergistic effects of cordycepin and IR on the viability of human oral cancer cells. The combination of cordycepin and IR treatment induced apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and autophagic cell death. Furthermore, cordycepin induced S-phase arrest and prolonged G2/M arrest in the cells that received the combination treatment compared with those that received irradiation alone. Combined treatment induced the upregulation of ATG5 and p21 in an autophagy cascade-dependent manner, arrested the cell cycle in the G2/M phase, and repressed cell proliferation. Thus, we conclude that the combination of cordycepin and IR treatment could be a potential therapeutic strategy for OSCC.
口腔鳞状细胞癌 (OSCC) 是全球最常见的癌症之一，占口腔恶性肿瘤的 90%以上，5 年生存率低于 50%。由于其病因学和治疗结果的异质性，近几十年来 OSCC 患者的长期生存率并未显著提高。我们研究了辐射 (IR) 和蛹虫草素联合治疗体外人 OSCC 细胞的抗癌作用。研究了细胞死亡的类型，特别是自噬和细胞凋亡，以及潜在的机制。我们发现蛹虫草素和 IR 对人口腔癌细胞活力具有协同作用。蛹虫草素和 IR 联合治疗诱导细胞凋亡、细胞周期停滞和自噬性细胞死亡。此外，与单独接受照射的细胞相比，联合治疗诱导了 S 期阻滞和延长的 G2/M 期阻滞。联合治疗以自噬级联依赖性的方式诱导 ATG5 和 p21 的上调，使细胞周期停滞在 G2/M 期，并抑制细胞增殖。因此，我们得出结论，蛹虫草素和 IR 联合治疗可能是治疗 OSCC 的一种潜在治疗策略。
