Experimental Study Of Curcumin On Proliferation And Apoptosis In Choriocarcinoma Cell JEG-3

Objective:To study the effect of curcumin on the survivin transcription and in vitro growth of JEG-3 cells, and provide a mechanistic rationale for the potential use of curcumin in the treatment of choriocarcinoma.Methods:The cultured JEG-3 cells were divided randomly into control group and curcumin group. In the control group, there were not any curcumin added. In the curcumin group, the cells were treated by curcumin with different concentrations (2.5μmol/L,5μmol/L, 10μmol/L 20μmol/L,40μmol/L,80μmol/L and 160μmol/L). The effect of curcumin on the growth of JEG-3 cells was examined by MTT assay at the 24th, 48th and 72nd hours after curcumin was added. Flow cytometry of Annexin V/PI staining, and RT-PCR were used to detect the apoptosis rates and survivin mRNA levels of these JEG-3 cells after 48 hours treated by curcumin (20μmol/L,40μmol/L and 80μmol/L).Results:1. Curcumin inhibited the proliferation of JEG-3 cells in a dose-dependent (r=0.913, p<0.05) and time-dependent (r=0.751, p<0.05 when the concentration of curcumin≥10μmol/L) way with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 87.96μmol/L at 24h,37.30μmol/L at 48h and 24.99μmol/L at 72h.2. Curcumin induced the apoptosis of JEG-3 cells in a dose-dependent manner (r=0.966, p<0.05):after treated by curcumin with concentrations of 0μmol/L,20μmol/L,40μmol/L,80μmol/L, flow cytometry showed the apoptosis rate in each group was (0.83±0.79)%, (10.54±2.84)%, (22.38±6.99)%, (42.65±6.71)% respectively. As compared with each other, the differences were all statistically significant (p<0.05).3. Treatment of JEG-3 cells with curcumin significantly down-regulated survivin transcription in a dose-dependent manner (r=-0.900, p<0.05):after treated by curcumin with concentrations of Oμmol/L,20μmol/L,40μmol/L,80μmol/L, RT-PCR showed the relative expression of survivin mRNA in each group was 0.8032±0.0380, 0.4057±0.0206,0.3129±0.0371,0.1623±0.0257 respectively. As compared with each other, the differences were all statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusion:Curcumin could significantly inhibit the growth and induce the apoptosis of JEG-3 cells. The potential anti-tumor mechanism might be related to the inhibition of survivin expression in JEG-3 cells.