The morbidity of oral cancer is high in the world. Oridonin is a traditional Chinese medicine that can effectively inhibit oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) growth, but its mechanism remains unclear. Our previous data showed that oridonin inhibited CAL-27 cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. Herein, we explored the mechanism and target of oridonin in human OSCC through RNA sequencing and integration of multiple bioinformatics analysis strategies. Differences in gene expression can be analyzed with RNA sequencing. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Ontology (GO), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), Disease Ontology (DO), and other enrichment analyses were used to evaluate differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were built via the STRING database. It was found that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway were associated with the therapeutic effects of oridonin in OSCC. Three key genes (BIRC3, TNFSF10, and BCL6) were found to associate with cell apoptosis in OSCC cells treated with oridonin. Quantitative PCR assays verified the expression of apoptosis-related DEGs: TNFSF10, BIRC3, AIFM2, BCL6, BCL2L2, and Bax. Western blots were employed for verifying proteins expression associated with DEGs: cleaved caspase 3, Bax, Bcl-w, anti-cIAP2, and anti-TRAIL. In conclusion, our findings reveal the molecular pathways and targets by which oridonin can treat and induce cytotoxic effects in OSCC: by affecting the signaling including TNF, NF-κB, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and by regulating the key gene BIRC3, TNFSF10, and BCL6. It should be noted that further clinical trial validation is very necessary. Combined with current research trends, our existing research may provide innovative research drugs for the treatment of OSCC.
Copyright © 2023 Guohui Wu et al.