[Inhibitory effect of paeoniflorin on CAL27 cells of tongue squamous cell carcinoma and its mechanism].

Purpose: To investigate the inhibitory effect of paeoniflorin(PF) with different concentrations on CAL27 cells of tongue squamous cell carcinoma in vitro and its possible mechanism.

Methods: CCK-8 technique and clone formation trial were used to detect the effect of PF on the proliferation and clone formation of CAL27 cells. Scratch test and Transwell method was used to detect the effects of PF on migration and invasion of CAL27 cells. Staining of Hoechst33342 was employed to evaluate the influence of PF on apoptosis of CAL27 cells, while Western blot was utilized to investigate the effect of PF on the expression of NF-κB pathway related proteins and EMT related proteins. The effect of PF on NO production in CAL27 cells was detected by nitric oxide detection kit. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 27.0 software package.

Results: PF inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion of CAL27 cells in vitro in a concentration-dependent way. Moreover, PF caused apoptosis of CAL27 cells. PF impeded NF-κB pathway activity, decreased the expression of P-P65, further reduced the expression of iNOS and MMP-9, suppressed the production of NO, and concurrently inhibited Vimentin,promoted E-cadherin.

Conclusions: Paeoniflorin inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of CAL27 cells, which may play an anti-cancer role by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB pathway and EMT.