Curcumin Stimulates Proliferation of Embryonic Neural Progenitor Cells and Neurogenesis in the Adult Hippocampus

Abstract

Curcumin is a natural phenolic component of yellow curry spice, which is used in some cultures for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Curcumin has been reported to be capable of preventing the death of neurons in animal models of neurodegenerative disorders, but its possible effects on developmental and adult neuroplasticity are unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of curcumin on mouse multi-potent neural progenitor cells (NPC) and adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Curcumin exerted biphasic effects on cultured NPC; low concentrations stimulated cell proliferation, whereas high concentrations were cytotoxic. Curcumin activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) and p38 kinases, cellular signal transduction pathways known to be involved in the regulation of neuronal plasticity and stress responses. Inhibitors of ERKs and p38 kinases effectively blocked the mitogenic effect of curcumin in NPC. Administration of curcumin to adult mice resulted in a significant increase in the number of newly generated cells in the dentate gyrus of hippocampus, indicating that curcumin enhances adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our findings suggest that curcumin can stimulate developmental and adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and a biological activity that may enhance neural plasticity and repair.

Review paper Neurogenesis and neuroprotection in postischemic brain neurodegeneration with Alzheimer phenotype: is there a role for curcumin?

“…Collectively, understanding the neurogenic mechanisms after ischemia and curcumin neurogenic activity could provide a neurorestorative strategy that stimulates dysregulated endogenous neural stem/progenitor cell activity and as a result prevents neuropathological changes and neurological deficits after ischemia. There are, however, some encouraging results suggesting that curcumin could be of therapeutic relevance in these kinds of diseases (Table I) [12,13,23,63]. Amid all the optimism surrounding the potential of ischemia-induced neurogenesis, there remain a variety of significant concerns.…”

“…Every mammal has stem cells in different organs, being particularly important in the brain, and nowadays these cells are believed to play a role in cell substitute after birth [23]. The existence of neural stem/ progenitor cells in the mammalian mature brain that are capable of forming new neurons continues to push the developments of new approaches to brain repair after ischemia.…”

Inhibitory Effects of Phylligenin on the Proliferation of Cultured Rat Neural Progenitor Cells

“…The first chemical modulator discovered as an inducer of neuronal differentiation from adult NPC origin was neuropathiazol (Warashina et al, 2006). Discovery of another small molecules inducing neurogenesis were followed (Saxe et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008;Schneider et al, 2008). It is known that haloperidol induces neuron-specific differentiation in mouse model (Diamandis et al, 2009).…”

The Coumarin Derivative Osthole Stimulates Adult Neural Stem Cells, Promotes Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus, and Ameliorates Cognitive Impairment in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice

“…58) Curcumin stimulated adult hippocampal neurogenesis and enhanced neural plasticity and repair. 59) Therefore, regulation of neurogenesis by NSCs is anticipated as a noble therapeutic strategy for the functional recovery of damaged brains in AD and other neurological disorders.…”