%0 Journal Article %T Effect of protein kinase C alpha, caspase-3, and survivin on apoptosis of oral cancer cells induced by staurosporine %A Zhang Yu-xia %A Yu Shi-bin %A Ou-Yang Jing-ping %A Xia Dong %A Wang Min %A Li Jin-rong %J Acta Pharmacologica Sinica %D 2016 %B 2016 %9 %! Effect of protein kinase C alpha, caspase-3, and survivin on apoptosis of oral cancer cells induced by staurosporine %K %X Aim: To elucidate inhibition of protein kinase C alpha (PKC alpha) activity by staurosporine on apoptosis of oral cancer cell line tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCCa) cells and to clarify the role of survivin and caspase-3 in mediating apoptosis. Methods: TSCCa cell viability was measured by MTT assay after 100 nmol/L staurosporine treatment. Apoptotic cells were identified by using phase contrast microscopy, acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, and flow cytometry. Level of PKC alpha and its subcellular location were investigated using Western blot analysis. Expression of survivin and caspase-3 were evaluated using immunocytochemistry. Results: Staurosporine significantly inhibited the cell viability of TSCCa cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Marked cell accumulation in G 2 /M phase was observed after 100 nmol/L staurosporine exposure for 6 h and 12 h. In addition, the percentage of apoptosis increased in a time-dependent manner, from 2.9% in control cultures to approximately 27.4% at 100 nmol/L staurosporine treatment for 24 h. Staurosporine displayed difference in inhibitory efficacy between cytosolic and membrance-derived PKC alpha. The content of PKCalpha in membrane versus cytosol decreased quickly, from 0.45 in ethanol-treated control cultures to 0.18 after staurosporine exposure for 24 h ( P Conclusion: Staurosporine inhibited cell viability and promoted apoptosis in TSCCa cells. Inhibition of PKCalpha activity might be a potential mechanism for staurosporine to induce apoptosis in this cell line. The cleavage of survivin and activation of caspase-3 signaling pathway might contribute to PKC alpha inhibition-induced apoptosis. %U http://www.chinaphar.com/article/view/3934 %V 26 %N 11 %P 1365-1372 %@ 1745-7254