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. 2020 Jul 1;21(7):1877-1882.
doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.7.1877.

Silibinin Triggers the Mitochondrial Pathway of Apoptosis in Human Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells

Radhika Murali Iyangar  1 , Ezhilarasan Devaraj  1
Affiliations

Silibinin Triggers the Mitochondrial Pathway of Apoptosis in Human Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells

Radhika Murali Iyangar et al. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. .

Abstract

Background: Silibinin, a natural polyphenolic flavonoid present in seed extracts of milk thistle (Silybum marianum). It has been shown to interact with various cancer-related cell signalling pathways in preclinical models, demonstrating promising anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo.

Materials and methods: The cytotoxic effect of silibinin was evaluated in human oral squamous carcinoma (SCC-25) cells by MTT assay. The apoptosis-related morphological changes were investigated by AO/EB dual staining. The cytochrome c, caspases-3, and -9, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), and B-cell associated X protein (Bax) gene expressions were analysed by PCR.

Results: We have shown that silibinin treatment for 24 h in SCC-25 cells induced cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. The cytotoxic potential was due to the induction of apoptosis via the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol and subsequent activation of caspases-3 and -9. Dual staining assay was further confirmed the induction of early apoptosis upon silibinin treatment.

Conclusion: The results from this study show that silibinin can be considered as a promising drug candidate for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Keywords: Apoptosis; Caspases; Cytotoxicity; Silybum marianum; cytochrome C.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A), Cytotoxic effect of SBN was analyzed by MTT assay. SCC-25 cells were treated with different concentrations of SBN for 24 h. Values are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. (n=3) *P < 0.001 vs control; (B), Morphology of control and SBN treated SCC-25 cells
Figure 2
Figure 2
Apoptosis Related Morphological Changes (A) Acridine Orange/Ethidium Bromide Staining. White and yellow arrows indicating early and late apoptotic cells respectively (B) Quantification of apoptotic cell percentage. Values are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. (n=3). *** p < 0.001 vs control
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A), Silibinin effect on the apoptotic marker genes expression; (B), Quantification of gene expression. Values are expressed as mean ± S.E.M (n=3). Comparisons were done by Bonferroni’s post-hoc comparison test. GAPDH used as an internal control for optimization. * p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001 vs control
Figure 4
Figure 4
Possible Mechanism of Silibinin-Induced Apoptosis in Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma SCC-25 Cell Lines
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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