Abstract:Objective To investigate the effects of Melittin (MEL) on the proliferation and migration of human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines Scc-15,Tca8113,and Cal-27 and its mechanism. Methods OSCC cell lines respectively treated with four different concentrations of MEL (2,4,8,16 μg/ml)were served as MEL group.Cells without treatment of MEL were served as control group.MTT assay was used to measure the inhibitory effect of MEL on the proliferation of OSCC cell lines Scc-15,Tca8113 and Cal-27. Scratch test and Transwell test were used to detect the inhibitory effects of MEL on migration and invasion of Scc-15 cells respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of nuclear factor (NF) κB,Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 in Scc-15 cells treated with MEL. Results MTT assay results showed that compared with control group,the proliferation and survival rates of Scc-15,Tca8113 and Cal-27 cells in 2-,4-,8-,16- μg/ml MEL groups significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent manner (all P<0.01).Scratch test showed that scratch healing rates of Scc-15 cells in 8 and 16 μg/ml MEL groups were significantly lower than that in control group in a concentration-dependent manner at 6-,12- and 24-h of cell scratch(all P<0.01).Transwell invasion assay showed that the number of Scc-15 cells penetrating the membrane-filtered in 16 μg/ml MEL group was significantly less than that in control group ［(21.0±1.7) vs (46.0±2.3),P<0.01].Western blot results showed that compared with control group,NF-κB expression level decreased in Scc-15 cells,and expression levels of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 increased in MEL group （all P<0.01）. Conclusion MEL can significantly inhibit the proliferation,migration and invasion of OSCC cells and promote the apoptosis of OSCC cells,which may be related to the reduction of NF-κB production.