The oral cancer incidence rate is slowly increasing and is now the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death due to its high metastasis and recurrence rate. Juniperus communis is used as a traditional Chinese medicine and has been proven to have anti-cancer activity against neuroblastomas. In this study, we further investigated the anti-cancer mechanisms of J. communis extract (JCo) on oral cancer and evaluated the synergistic effects of JCo combined with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). We found that JCo inhibited oral cancer cell growth, and that JCo might be less cytotoxic to normal cells than to cancer cells. After JCo treatment, cell cycle arrest was observed at the G0/G1 phase through modulation of p53/p21 and Rb signaling. JCo also caused an increase in the sub-G1 phase and cell apoptosis via the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways. JCo combined with 5-FU presented a synergistic effect to reduce cell viability. In conclusion, JCo inhibited oral cancer cell growth by inducing cell cycle arrest and activating cell apoptosis, and JCo significantly synergized with 5-FU. JCo might have the potential to be an adjuvant and a new therapeutic drug for oral cancer treatment.

中文翻译：

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通过使用Juniperus communis提取物诱导细胞周期停滞和凋亡来抑制口腔癌。

口腔癌的发病率正在缓慢增加，由于其高转移和复发率，现在已成为癌症相关死亡的第五大主要原因。杜松被用作传统中药，并已被证明具有抗神经母细胞瘤的抗癌活性。在这项研究中，我们进一步研究了J. com。提取物（JCo）对口腔癌的抗癌机制，并评估了JCo与5-氟尿嘧啶（5-FU）的协同作用。我们发现JCo抑制了口腔癌细胞的生长，并且JCo对正常细胞的细胞毒性可能小于对癌细胞的细胞毒性。JCo处理后，通过调节p53 / p21和Rb信号转导在G0 / G1期观察到细胞周期停滞。JCo还通过内在和外在的凋亡途径引起了亚G1期和细胞凋亡的增加。JCo与5-FU联合使用具有协同作用，可降低细胞活力。总之，JCo通过诱导细胞周期停滞和激活细胞凋亡来抑制口腔癌细胞的生长，并且JCo与5-FU有明显的协同作用。JCo可能会成为口腔癌治疗的佐剂和新治疗药物。