The role of calcium channel drugs in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced oral cancer cell proliferation

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and ranks in the top three of all cancers in India. Gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum have been found to contribute to oral carcinogenesis by causing the proliferation of cancer cells through activation of the JAK/STAT pathway and Wnt pathway, respectively. On the other hand, calcium channel receptor activation has shown to be activating a plethora of cell proliferation mechanisms.

The project used four oral cancer cell lines and one normal oral cell line. We first investigated the presence of the calcium channel receptors in oral cancer cells. Then we stimulated the oral cancer cells with LPS (lipopolysaccharide) that is found in the cell wall of the Gram-negative bacteria and at the same time treated the oral cancer cells with the selected calcium channel drugs that may affect oral cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Various molecular biological techniques, including polymerase chain reaction, Annexin V flow cytometry assay, protein microarray assay, and western blotting was employed to understand the proliferative or apoptotic pathways of LPS stimulated oral cancer cells exposed to calcium channel drugs.

This first-time project will provide novel insights regarding the effect of calcium channels agonist and antagonist on the proliferation and apoptosis of oral cancer. Thereby elucidating the previously unknown proliferative and apoptotic pathways with which calcium channels agonist and antagonist interact in the presence of LPS.