Effect of β-carotene on Cell Growth Inhibition of KB Human Oral Cancer Cells

• Published in: International journal of oral biology Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 105 - 111
• Main Authors: Yang, Sung-Su, Kim, Su-Gwan, Park, Byung-Sun, Go, Dae-San, Yu, Sun-Kyoung, Kim, Chun Sung, Kim, Jeongsun, Kim, Do Kyung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: cell death; apoptosis; {\beta}-carotene; oral cancer cells
• ISSN: 1226-7155; 2287-6618

${\beta}-carotene$ is present in carrots, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. It suppresses many types of cancers by regulating cellular proliferation and apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms. However, the effects of ${\beta}-carotene$ on oral cancer cells have not been clearly established. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of ${\beta}-carotene$ on cell growth and apoptosis in oral cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that treatment with ${\beta}-carotene$ induced inhibition of cell growth, and that the effect was dependent on ${\beta}-carotene$ treatment time and concentration in KB cells. Furthermore, treatment with ${\beta}-carotene$ induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation in KB cells. ${\beta}-carotene$ promoted proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, -8 and -9 with associated increases in the concentration of cleaved caspase-3, -7, -8 and -9. In addition, the level of cleaved PARP was increased by ${\beta}-carotene$ treatment in KB cells. These results suggest that ${\beta}-carotene$ can suppress cell growth and induce apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells, and that it may have potential usefulness in anti-cancer drug discovery efforts.