Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of α-eleostearic acid (α-ESA) in bitter melon seed oil on the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of tongue squamous cell carcinoma CAL-27 cells. METHODS: CAL-27 cells were cultivated in vitro and α-ESA was added at the concentrations of 0, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 μmol/L. CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the cell proliferation inhibition rate at 24, 48, and 72 h and apoptosis rate at 48 h respectively. CAL-27 cells were treated with α-ESA at concentrations of 0, 80 and 100 μmol/L. The cell migration capacity after 24 hours of α-ESA administration was measured by cell scratching assay. The morphology of apoptotic cells after 48 h of α-ESA administration was observed by Hoechst 33258 staining. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The proliferation of CAL-27 cells was inhibited by α-ESA in a time and concentration-dependent manner (P<0.05). After 24, 48, and 72 h of α-ESA administration, the half inhibitory concentration(IC₅₀) was (123.48±1.00) μmol/L, (80.22±0.03) μmol/L, and (69.27±80.34) μmol/L, respectively, which was gradually decreased. The results of flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis rate increased significantly with the increase of α-ESA concentration (P<0.05). After 24 h of incubation, the wound healing rate of CAL-27 cells was (40.08±2.19)% and (22.06±2.04)% after administration of 80 and 100 μmol/L α-ESA, which was significantly lower than the control group (74.74±2.17)%(P<0.01). Densely stained or fragmented bright blue fluorescence was observed under fluorescence microscope which represented cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: α-ESA can inhibit the proliferation and migration of CAL-27 cells in vitro, and therefore has certain anti-tumor effects.

Key words: α-eleostearic acid, α-ESA, Bitter melon seed oil, Tongue squamous cell carcinoma, Cal-27 cell, Cell proliferation, Migration, Apoptosis