Abstract:      Background and purpose: About 80% patients with oral and maxillofacial malignant tumor are oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). OSCC is one of the most common cancers in the world with less than 50% survival rate over 5 years. This experiment aimed to explore the effect of stanniocalcin 2 (STC2) on apoptosis, proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC cell. Methods: RNA interference (RNAi) vector pLKO.1-shSTC2 was constructed and transfected into KB cells. Cell proliferation and cell apoptosis were then assessed by CCK8, APC Annexin V/7-AAD and flow cytometry. Differences of migration and invasion between KB scr and KB STC2i were examined by cell scratch and transwell tests. Finally, this study detected the apoptosis-associated proteins and metastasis-associated proteins by Western blot. Results: STC2 down-regulation plasmid was constructed and transfected into KB cells. CCK8 proliferation assay revealed that the STC2 down-regulation inhibited KB cells proliferation. By treating with cisplatin, this study found that STC2 silence could facilitate cell apoptosis significantly. With the knock down of STC2 gene, the expressions of Bcl-2, Caveolin-1 and β-catenin were decreased but the expression of bax was obviously increased. Conclusion: These data suggest that STC2 may be involved in the apoptosis, proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC KB cells. Simultaneously, it can significantly weaken the sensitivity of KB cells to chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin.

Key words: Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Proliferation, Invasion, Migration