Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2008 Oct;51(10):894-902.

Effect of Triptolide and Cisplatin Combination on Apoptosis in AMC-HN4 Cells

• Nam YJ
• Song DW
• Yeo CK
• Kim DE
• Kim MS
• Park JW

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cisplatin (CP) is a widely used agent for chemotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma but some tumor cell shows resistance to CP. Accordingly, it is necessary to seek a method to increase the sensitivity of tumor cell to CP. This study was conducted to investigate whether Triptolide (TP) is effective in the inhibition of proliferating head and neck cancer cell and sensitizes cancer cells to CP. MATERIALS AND METHOD: To assess how the combination of TP and CP influence apoptosis of head and neck cancer cell, AMC-HN4 cells were treated with different concentrations of TP and/or CP. Then, their growth was analyzed by XTT assay and the degree of apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry.
RESULTS
The combination of TP and CP increased suppression of the growth of tumor cells more significantly and enhanced apoptosis more than that of TP or CP alone, and suppressed expression of anti-apoptotic protein.
CONCLUSION
This study showed that TP alone had antitumor activity in AMC-HN4 cells, and the combination of TP or CP also might sensitize head and neck cancer cell to CP by suppressing the expression of antiapoptotic protein.

Keyword

Head and neck cancer; Triptolide; Cisplatin; Apoptosis

MeSH Terms

Apoptosis
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Cisplatin
Diterpenes
Epoxy Compounds
Flow Cytometry
Head
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Neck
Phenanthrenes
Cisplatin
Diterpenes
Epoxy Compounds
Phenanthrenes