Journal of East China Normal University(Natural Sc ›› 2012, Vol. 2012 ›› Issue (3): 161-170.

• Article • Previous Articles    

Antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of novel curcumin analogs in human liver cancer cell lines

LI Yu-bo 1, WEN Ying 1, MA Ming-liang 2, WU Liang-chun 2, WEN Ke 2, ZHAO Zheng 1   

  1. 1. Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China;
    2. Division of Supermolecular Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
  • Received:2011-03-01 Revised:2011-06-01 Online:2012-05-25 Published:2012-05-22

Abstract: Antiproliverative and apoptotic activities of the novel curcumin analogs (CCM series) against human liver carcinoma Bal-7402 and SMMC-7721 cells were investigated by MTT assay. The cell cycle distribution and apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells induced by CCM-5 and CCM-14 were analyzed using flow cytometry. The expressions of caspase-3 and its activated form p17 in SMMC-7721 cells were further determined by western blot. CCM-5 and CCM-14 exhibited, in a concentration-dependent manner, the stronger antiproliferative role than those of curcumin and the other CCM compounds. Their apoptotic effects on the SMMC-7721 cells were also found to be significantly elevated as compared with the control group (P<0.01). Cell cycle distribution appeared that, as the concentrations of the compounds increased in SMMC-7721 cells, the G0/G1 phase cells decreased while the S phase and the G2/M phase cells, and the SubG1 peak increased. Furthermore, both CCM-5 and CCM-14 could activate caspase-3 expression in the SMMC-7721 cells. Collectively, our data suggest that CCM-5 and CCM-14 can restrain proliferation and promote apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cell, and the molecular mechanism underlying these actions against the cancer cells of the compounds may involve in the activation of caspase-3.

Key words: curcumin analogs, Bel-7402 cells, SMMC-7721 cells, apoptosis, cell cycle, caspase-3

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