Induction of apoptotic death by curcumin in human tongue squamous cell carcinoma SCC-4 cells is mediated through endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondria-dependent pathways

Abstract

Curcumin from the rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant has been noted for its chemo-preventative and chemo-therapy activities, and it inhibits the growth of many types of human cancer cell lines. In this study, the mechanisms of cell death involved in curcumin-induced growth inhibition, including cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in human tongue cancer SCC-4 cells, were investigated. Herein, we observed that curcumin inhibited cell growth of SCC-4 cells and induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of SCC-4 cells with curcumin caused a moderate and promoted the G(2) /M phase arrest, which was accompanied with decreases in cyclin B/CDK1 and CDC25C protein levels. Moreover, curcumin significantly induced apoptosis of SCC-4 cells with a decrease of the Bcl-2 level, reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ(m) ), and promoted the active forms of caspase-3. Curcumin also promoted the releases of AIF and Endo G from the mitochondria in SCC-4 cells by using confocal laser microscope. Therefore, we suggest that curcumin induced apoptosis through a mitochondria-dependent pathway in SCC-4 cells. In addition, we also found that curcumin-induced apoptosis of SCC-4 cells was partly through endoplasmic reticulum stress. In conclusion, curcumin increased G(2) /M phase arrest and induced apoptosis through ER stress and mitochondria-dependent pathways in SCC-4 cells.

Synergistic anticancer activity of curcumin and bleomycin: An in�vitro study using human malignant testicular germ cells

“…We found that curcumin induced caspasedependent apoptotic signaling pathways, accompanied by a decreased Bcl-2 expression and increased Bax and Cyt-c levels in NT2 cell lines. Similar to our findings, several studies have reported that curcumin decreased Bcl-2 levels in many types of cancer cells, such as squamous cell carcinoma (18), small cell lung cancer (19), myeloid leukemia (20) and adenocarcinoma cells (21). Our results are consistent with those from other reports of curcumin-mediated cytotoxic activity via the induction of apoptosis (22).…”

The Indian Spice Turmeric Delays and Mitigates Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis in Patients Undergoing Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer

“…In contrast, when compared with honey, turmeric may not have long-term adjunct effects as studies have shown it to be also beneficial in the treatment of various periodontal diseases. 40,[52][53][54] Literature studies also show that turmeric possesses selective antineoplastic activity on neoplastic cells, chemopreventive effects, and antimetastatic activities, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] all of which can be beneficial in the prevention of recurrence and distant spread of the cancer.…”

Ursolic acid induces ER stress response to activate ASK1–JNK signaling and induce apoptosis in human bladder cancer T24 cells

“…Recent studies have confirmed that anti-cancer drugs including cisplatin [14] and Tetrocarcin-A [15] as well as anti-cancer neutral compounds such as curcumin [16][17][18] all activate ER stress to promote cell apoptosis. Here we studied whether ER stress play a role in ursolic acid's anti-bladder cancer ability.…”