Coronarin D (CD) is one of the main components of Hedychium coronarium rhizome, which has therapeutic potential by reducing cell proliferation in cancer cells. However, the mechanism of CD to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) oral cancer cell remain unclearly. This study discusses the CD to 5FU chemoresistance oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) biochemical mechanisms and possibly pathways to inhibit multiplication in oral cancer. The effect of CD-treated 5FU-chemoresistance human oral cancer cell lines were subjected to MTT assay, cell cycle assay, DAPI assay, annexin-V/PI double staining assay and mitochondrial membrane potential measurement. Furthermore, western blotting was performed to assess the effect of CD on the expression levels of apoptosis related protein and MAPK signaling pathway. The results of the study evidenced that CD reduced viability of 5FU cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner compared with control. The cytotoxic effect of CD lead to cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in both internal and external pathways. CD induces apoptosis by enhancing phosphorylation of JNK, further exploring the combination of CD and SP600125 reduced the overexpression of phosphate JNK levels. The mechanism of action of CD in 5FU on human oral cancer cells is reported for the first time and can hopeful to be a potential therapeutic agent for 5FU against human oral cancer cells.
