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A polysaccharide from Glycyrrhiza inflata Licorice inhibits proliferation of human oral cancer cells by inducing apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

In the present study, we isolated and characterized a water-soluble polysaccharide (GIP1) from the roots of Glycyrrhiza inflata. The goal of this study was to investigate the anti-tumor effect of GIP1 on the human oral cancer SCC-25 cell line and to explore the possible mechanism. Our experimental result showed that GIP1 (50, 100, and 200 μg/mL) specifically decreased cell viability of SCC-25 cells in a concentration-dependent manner via the induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that exposure of SCC-25 cells to GIP1 led to down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, thus causing a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of cytochrome c to the cytosol. Moreover, we observed activation of the initiator caspaes-9, and the effector caspases-3, but not caspase-8. Concomitantly, GIP1-induced apoptosis can be blocked by caspase-3- or caspase-9-specific inhibitor, but not caspase-8 inhibitor. As well, the cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, as a caspae-3 substrate, occurred in SCC-25 cells following GIP1 treatment at three concentrations. Collectively, our results showed that the GIP1 induced apoptosis in SCC-25 cells involving a caspase-dependent mitochondrial signaling pathway.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Stomatology, The General Hospital of the Second Artillery Corps of Chinese PLA, Beijing, 100088, China

      Huan Shen, Bin Sun, Xingwei Cai, Lixia Bi & Yongjin Yang

    2. Department of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710038, China

      Guang Zeng

    3. Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of the General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, 100037, China

      Guo Tang

    Authors
    1. Huan Shen
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    2. Guang Zeng
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    3. Bin Sun
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    4. Xingwei Cai
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    5. Lixia Bi
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    6. Guo Tang
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    7. Yongjin Yang
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    Correspondence to Guo Tang or Yongjin Yang.

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    Huan Shen, Guang Zeng and Bin Sun contributed equally to this work.

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    Shen, H., Zeng, G., Sun, B. et al. A polysaccharide from Glycyrrhiza inflata Licorice inhibits proliferation of human oral cancer cells by inducing apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway. Tumor Biol. 36, 4825–4831 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3135-6

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3135-6

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