Hydrogen sulfide accelerates cell cycle progression in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines

To investigate the cell cycle regulator role of the third gaseous transmitter hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) in three oral SCC cell lines by using NaHS, a donor of H2 S.

The synchronized oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (Cal27, GNM, and WSU-HN6) were treated with different concentrations of NaHS and then subjected to cell proliferation, cell cycle, and Western blot analyses.

The CCK-8 assay results showed that the exogenously administered H2 S donor, NaHS, induced CAL-27, and GNM cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner, and the cell cycle analysis indicated that NaHS accelerated cell cycle progression of the synchronized CAL-27, GNM, and WSU-HN6 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that the cell cycle regulatory genes RPA70 and RB1 were significantly down-regulated and that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and CDK4 were markedly up-regulated by NaHS at specific time points in the cell cycle. In addition, our results indicated that the phosphorylation of Akt and Erk1/2 was involved in exogenous H2 S-induced oral SCC cell proliferation.

H2 S is a potential pro-proliferative factor of human oral SCC cells that accelerates the progression of the SCC cell cycle; thus, H2 S plays a deleterious role in oral SCC cancer development.