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Background/Aim: We aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of apigenin and curcumin on the cross-talk between apoptosis and autophagic cell death, as well as on paraptosis in HeLa cells. Materials and Methods: Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay. Synergistic effects were measured using the Bliss independence model. qRT-PCR was used to study the expression of genes related to apoptosis, autophagic cell death, and cross-talk. GRP78/BiP immunostaining was used to identify endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Results: Treatment with a combination of apigenin and curcumin increased the expression levels of genes related to cell death in HeLa cells 1.29-to 27.6-fold. The combination of curcumin and apigenin showed a synergistic anti-tumor effect via cross-talk between processes leading to apoptosis and autophagic cell death, as well as ER stress-associated paraptosis. GRP78 expression was down-regulated, and massive cytoplasmic vacuolization was observed in HeLa cells. Conclusion: The combination of curcumin and apigenin is an effective potential therapeutic for cervical cancers.Cancer is a disease caused by the abnormal proliferation and differentiation of cells and is governed by tumorigenic factors (1). Cervical cancer is a major cause of death among young women. There have been significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer (2). One of the most effective ways of treating cancer is chemotherapy.

Introduction Acromegaly is a chronic disease of increased growth hormone (GH) secretion and elevated insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels induced by a pituitary adenoma. HMGA2 (high mobility group A2) and AIP (aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein) expression levels are related to GH-secreting adenomas, and also a response to Somatostatin Analogs (SSAs). We studied SNPs in miR-107 and miR-23b that related with AIP and HMGA2 genes respectively and control their expression, and also SNP in the 3'UTR of HMGA2 gene. Our aim was to investigate genotype distributions of the studied SNPs, as well as the possible relationship between disease and/or response to SSAs treatment in patients with acromegaly. Material and Methods Genotypes were determined by qRT-PCR method from DNA materials obtained blood samples of acromegaly patients (141) and healthy individuals (99). The genotype distributions of patients and healthy groups, as well as the relationship between the clinical data of the disease and genotypes were statistically compared. Results In acromegaly patients with T-allele, p53 expression (p=0.049) was significantly higher. In patients with CT+TT genotype and T-allele who were responder to SSA-treatment Ki-67 index (respectively p=0.019, p=0.020 respectively) was higher. We did not observe the genotypes for miR-23b and miR-107 polymorphisms in the patients and control group of Turkish population. Conclusion The genetic variations of the miRNAs genes related with HMGA2 and AIP genes were not seen in our study. Although there is no relationship between HMGA2-rs1351394 polymorphism and acromegaly disease, T allele was associated with some clinical features related to adenoma in patients with acromegaly.

: Cervical cancer is one of the frequent types of cancer seen in females. It has been suggested that natural compounds can be used effectively for cancer treatment. Apoptosis and autophagy related cell death play important roles in suppression of tumorigenesis. Apigenin and curcumin are natural products isolated from plant extracts known to have antitumoral, antibacterial and antiviral effects. Varying doses of curcumin and apigenin were applied to HeLa cancer cell lines. The expression of the genes related to apoptosis and/or autophagy related cell death were measured using qRT-PCR and cell viability was measured using MTT assay. Our results showed that curcumin and apigenin are effective on apoptosis and autophagy related cell death in HeLa cells. We suggested that these natural products seem to be a new promising therapeutic approach in cancer.

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