靈芝長久以來即被用在醫療用途上，特別是在東亞地區。在傳統中國醫學中，靈芝即被用來延長人的壽命和治療很多疾病，近代醫學更顯示出靈芝能夠治療癌症。靈芝的主要成分為多醣體和三萜類，多醣體主要是經由增強人體的免疫力因而達到抗癌的效果；三萜類主要是經由毒殺癌細胞而達到抗癌的效果。本實驗室主要使用松杉靈芝為實驗材料，之前的結果顯示松杉靈芝能對抗許多癌細胞，包括卵巢癌、乳癌、肺癌、皮膚癌、口腔癌及大腸直腸癌，本論文為了進一步探討松杉靈芝抑制口腔癌細胞的分子機轉，使用蛋白質體學技術。經由二維凝膠電泳及PDQuest分析軟體分析差異點，最後利用MALDI-TOF/TOF分析，及MASCOT資料庫比對，在HSC-3細胞株中鑑定出42個蛋白質差異點；在SCC-4細胞株中鑑定出33個蛋白質差異點。之後將這些蛋白質匯入GeneGo Meta CoreTM分析各蛋白質之間相互關係圖，在兩株不同的口腔癌細胞中找到相同的訊息傳遞路徑，另外也找到各別的訊息傳遞路徑。本論文對未來利用松杉靈芝萃取物抑制口腔癌細胞的生長提供了可能的訊息傳遞路徑。
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used to preserve the human vitality, to promote longevity, and for the prevention or treatment of a variety of diseases including cancer. Ganoderma, also known as Lingzhi, is a TCM and has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. Among the eight common species of Ganoderma in Taiwan, Ganoderma tsugae (Gt) has been used in our study for fighting cancers. Our preliminary data showed that Gt extracts could inhibit the growth of human oral cancer cell lines, HSC-3 and SCC-4. To further unravel its molecular mechanism, a proteomics approach was applied. The proteomics experiments revealing the cancer cell growth inhibiting effect of Gt extracts was found to be associated with regulation of 42 proteins for HSC-3, and 33 proteins for SCC-4. All these proteins were subjected to the GeneGo Meta Core analysis to search for the possible molecular pathways. Interestingly, similar molecular pathways were found for these two oral cancer cell lines responding to Gt extracts treatment. These data suggest the possible molecular pathways leading to human oral cancer cell growth inhibition after Gt extracts treatment. Moreover, it may also be beneficial to the clinical treatment of human oral cancers.
