Apoptotic effect of alpha-mangostin on head and neck squamous carcinoma cells

Objective: The purposes of this study were to measure the cytotoxic effect of alpha-mangostin on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines, to evaluate the apoptotic aspect of dead cells, and to identify the molecular mechanism involved in apoptosis. Methods: The human HNSCC cell lines HN-22, HN-30 and HN-31 were treated with alpha-mangostin. The apoptotic effects of alpha-mangostin on HNSCC cells were determined by observation the morphological changes of cells, immunofluorescence for single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), and DNA fragmentation analysis. The expression of bax, bcl-2, and p53 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Results: Alpha-mangostin showed excellent apoptotic effects on HNSCC cell lines, which induced the down-regulation of bcl-2, but up-regulation of bax and p53 in HN-22, HN-30 and HN-31. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the induction of apoptosis by alpha-mangostin seemed to be modulated by bcl-2, bax and p53 level in HNSCC cell lines. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.