Antiproliferation of Cryptocarya concinna-derived cryptocaryone against oral cancer cells involving apoptosis, oxidative stress, and DNA damage

BACKGROUND: Cryptocarya-derived crude extracts and their compounds have been reported to have an antiproliferation effect on several types of cancers but their impact on oral cancer is less well understood. METHODS: We examined the cell proliferation effect and mechanism of C. concinna-derived cryptocaryone (CPC) on oral cancer cells in terms of cell viability, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial depolarization, and DNA damage. RESULTS: We found that CPC dose-responsively reduced cell viability of two types of oral cancer cells (Ca9-22 and CAL 27) in MTS assay. The CPC-induced dose-responsive apoptosis effects on Ca9-22 cells were confirmed by flow cytometry-based sub-G1 accumulation, annexin V staining, and pancaspase analyses. For oral cancer Ca9-22 cells, CPC also induced oxidative stress responses in terms of ROS generation and mitochondrial depolarization. Moreover, γH2AX flow cytometry showed DNA damage in CPC-treated Ca9-22 cells. CPC-induced cell responses in terms of cell viability, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and DNA damage were rescued by N-acetylcysteine pretreatment, suggesting that oxidative stress plays an important role in CPC-induced death of oral cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: CPC is a potential ROS-mediated natural product for anti-oral cancer therapy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1073-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.