자생식물 목향 추출물에 의한 구강암세포의 성장 억제

Abstract

In asia Inula helenium has been used as a traditional herbal medicine to treat abdominal pain and tenesmus. Recently, in vitro cell culture studies have shown that Inula helenium has anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor functions. However, it has been unknown the effect of the Inula helenium extract on the growth of KB human oral cancer cell. In this study, to explore its potential chemotherapeutic effects in oral cancer cell, we examine whether the extract of Inula helenium could inhibit the growth of KB human oral cancer cells, and investigated the mechanisms for this effect. The effect of the extract of Inula helenium on growth of KB oral cancer cell and the mechanism were investigated using MTT assay, western blot assay and caspase activity assay. Treatment of the extract of Inula helenium in KB cells induced the apoptotic cell death in a concentration- and a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, The extract of Inula helenium induced the DNA fragmentation of KB cells. In western blot analysis, the proteolytic processing of caspase-3, -7 and -9 was increased by the extract of Inula helenium treatment in KB cells. In addition, activation of caspase-3 and caspase-7 was detected in living KB cells by fluorescence microscopy. These results suggest that the extract of Inula helenium can induce the suppression of cell growth and cell apoptosis in KB oral cancer cells, and therefore, that it may have potential properties for anti-tumor drug discovery.