Proteome analysis of antiproliferative mechanism of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate on cultured nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells.

12-O-Tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is a plant derivative with multiple function as tumor promoter, differentiation revulsant or leukemia therapy drug. The molecular mechanism of its function is perplexing. Many studies have focused on the mechanism of TPA stimulation in tumor promotion of mouse models or terminal differentiation of leukemia cells, but the effect of TPA on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear, while TPA was considered to be associated with NPC development. In the present study, we employed proteomics techniques to study protein changes of a poorly differentiated squamous carcinoma cell line-CNE2 of human NPCs cells induced by TPA. Six significantly and reproducibly changed proteins were identified and their functional implications were discussed in some details.