INHIBITION OF PROLIFERATION AND APOPTOSIS OF HUMAN AND RAT T-LYMPHOCYTES BY CURCUMIN, A CURRY PIGMENT

Citation
E. Sikora et al., INHIBITION OF PROLIFERATION AND APOPTOSIS OF HUMAN AND RAT T-LYMPHOCYTES BY CURCUMIN, A CURRY PIGMENT, Biochemical pharmacology, 54(8), 1997, pp. 899-907
Citations number
48
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Pharmacology & Pharmacy",Biology
Journal title
ISSN journal
0006-2952
Volume
54
Issue
8
Year of publication
1997
Pages
899 - 907
Database
ISI
SICI code
0006-2952(1997)54:8<899:IOPAAO>2.0.ZU;2-T
Abstract
Curcumin (diferuoylmethane), the yellow pigment: in the rhizome of tum eric (Curcuma longa), an ingredient of curry spice, is known to exhibi t a variety of pharmacological effects including antitumor, antiinflam matory, and antiinfectious activities. Although its precise mode of ac tion remains elusive, curcumin has been shown to suppress the activity of the AP-1 transcription factor in cells stimulated to proliferate. In this study, we observed that curcumin (50 mu M) inhibited prolifera tion of rat thymocytes stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A) as well as that of human Jurkat lymphoblastoid cells in the logarithmic growth phase. The pigment also inhibited apoptosis in dexamethasone-treated rat thymocytes and in UV-irradiated Jurkat cells as judged by DNA ladd er formation, cellular morphological changes, and flow cytometry analy sis. The inhibition of apoptosis by curcumin in rat thymocytes was acc ompanied by partial suppression of AP-1 activity. Complete suppression of AP-1 activity was observed in Con A-treated, proliferating thymocy tes. The capacity of curcumin to inhibit both cell growth and death st rongly implies that these two biological processes share a common path way at some point and that curcumin affects a common step, presumably involving a modulation of the AP-1 transcription factor. (C) 1997 Else vier Science Inc.