Concanavalin A induced autophagy switches to apoptosis

Abstract

Concanavalin A (Con A) is a lectin or carbohydrate binding protein having broad range of significant biological functions such as anti-tumor, anti-viral,anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative activities. The current study intends to focus on the role of Con A in cell death mechanisms autophagy and apoptosis in oral cancer cell line Hep-2. The acridine orange staining demonstrates that Con A is able to induce oral cancer cell autophgy. The ability of con A to induce apoptosis was studied using various staining procedure such as DAPI, Annexin V-FITC staining and Caspase-3/7 Glo assay. Additionally how chloroquine possesses the potential to inhibit the autophgic activity of con A has also been studied. As conclusion, the molecular mechanism of Con A induced cell death by autophagy followed to apoptosis in oral cancer has been well discussed, which will lead to opening of new perspectives for Con A as potential anti-cancer drugs in future oral cancer therapeutics.