As shown in Fig. 4e, the expressions of cleaved-PARP and cleaved-Caspase-3 both elevated in TSCCA and SCC25 cells expressing shJOSD1 compared with the negative control, suggesting that JOSD1 silencing promoted CDDP-induced apoptosis in HNSCC cells. This evidence concerns the gene CASP3 and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.