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- Academic Editor
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Background: The benzophenanthridine Sanguinarine (Sng) is one of the
most abundant root alkaloids with a long history of investigation and
pharmaceutical applications. The cytotoxicity of Sng against various tumor cells
is well-established; however, its antiproliferative and apoptotic potential
against the cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) cells remains unknown. In
the present study, we investigated the anti-cancer potential of Sng against cSCC
cells and elucidated the underlying mechanisms relevant to the drug action.
Methods: The inhibitory effect of Sng on cSCC cells was evaluated by
analyzing cell viability, colony-forming ability and multi-caspase activity.
Apoptosis was quantified through Annexin-V/Propidium iodide flow cytometric assay
and antagonized by pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-FMK. Mitochondrial membrane
potential (