Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of CXC motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods The expression level of CXCL8 in OSCC tissues and cells was detected by RT-qPCR and Western blotting, the correlation between CXCL8 expression level and the clinicopathological features of OSCC patients was analyzed. The effect of CXCL8 knockdown on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was detected by cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) method, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, wound healing assay, transwell assay and Western blotting. Results CXCL8 was significantly up-regulated in OSCC tissues and cells. The high expression level of CXCL8 was significantly correlated with tumor size, TNM staging and distant metastasis. CXCL8 knockdown can inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of SCC9 cells, and promote the apoptosis. Conclusion CXCL8 is up-regulated in OSCC, and the suppression of its expression can inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of SCC9 cells.

Key words: oral squamous cell carcinoma, CXC motif chemokine ligand 8, proliferation, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition