Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of allicin on the proliferation of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma(OTSCC) cells line(CAL27). Methods Human CAL27 cells were used in this study. The cells were incubated with different concentrations of allicin (5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, 200, 400 μmol/L) and control DMSO. CCK8 assay was performed to detect cell proliferation. RT-qPCR method was used to detect the expression of proliferation related marker ki-67; Transcriptome sequencing and pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Results Lower concentrations (20 μmol/L) of allicin inhibited CAL27 cells proliferation (P＜0.01).Allicin significantly inhibited the expression of ki-67 in CAL27 cells at lower concentrations(20 μmol/L, P＜0.01). Allicin inhibited tumor related microRNA expression, especially miR-200a and miR-199a1. Conclusions Lower concentration of allicin may significantly inhibit the proliferation of oral cancer cells by inhibition of tumor related microRNAs as a potential mechanism.

Key words: oral cancer, allicin, cell proliferation, microRNA