Curcumin displays anticancer properties; however, some issues with the drug delivery mode limit its therapeutic use. Although reformulation and derivatization of curcumin have improved its bioavailability, curcumin derivatives may not retain the same anticancer properties as the parent compound. The present study investigated the anticancer properties of two curcumin complexes, the iron-curcumin [Fe(Cur) 3 ] and boron-curcumin [B(Cur) 2 ] complexes, in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. The cellular localization of curcumin, B(Cur) 2 and Fe(Cur) 3 was determined by fluorescence microscopy. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were also analysed. Furthermore, apoptosis-associated proteins were detected by using a proteome profiler array, and ion channel gene expression was analysed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The results demonstrated that the three compounds were localized in the perinuclear and cytoplasmic regions of the cell, and displayed cytotoxicity with IC 50 values of 25, 35 and 8 µM for curcumin, B(Cur) 2 and Fe(Cur) 3 , respectively. In addition, the three compounds inhibited cell invasion, whereas only curcumin and B(Cur) 2 inhibited cell migration. Furthermore, cell exposure to curcumin resulted in an increase in the relative expression of the two key proapoptotic proteins, cytochrome c and cleaved caspase-3, as well as the antiapoptotic protein haem oxygenase-1. In addition, curcumin increased the expression levels of the voltage-gated potassium channels Kv2.1 and Kv3.2. Similarly, the expression levels of the chloride channel bestrophin-1 and the calcium channel coding gene calcium voltage-gated channel auxiliary subunit γ4 were increased following exposure to curcumin. Taken together, these results indicated that Fe(Cur) 3 and B(Cur) 2 may display similar anticancer properties as curcumin, suggesting that chemical complexation may be considered as a strategy for improving the potency of curcumin in the treatment of breast cancer.
We report on the measurements of the nonlinear reflective index coefficient for curcumin at three different wavelengths using a Z-scan technique. This material is found to be a new type of natural nonlinear media. It shows a large negative nonlinear refractive index of the order of 10–6 cm2/W. The origin of the nonlinearity was investigated by comparison of the formalism that is known as the Gaussian decomposition model with the thermal lens model. The nonlinear refractive index was found to vary with intensity and reveals that curcumin can be a promising material for optical limiting.
Nanoparticles of gold and silver were prepared by a reduction method and by employing green chemistry principles such as using curcumin as a reducing and a stabilizing agent. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by UV-Vis absorption spectra and TEM. Mie theory was used to determine the particle sizes. The nonlinear refraction and absorption properties of the particles were measured using the z-scan technique. A large value of third-order nonlinearities was obtained using the nanoparticles produced.
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