Curcumin suppresses the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by downregulating H19

Abstract

Curcumin, a major phytochemical in turmeric, inhibits the proliferation of many types of solid cancer cells by enhancing p53 expression. However, the long non-coding RNA H19 directly inhibits p53 activation and thus promotes gastric cancer progression. The aim of this study was to assess the role of H19 in curcumin-induced proliferative inhibition of gastric cancer. The gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 was treated with curcumin at different concentrations and time points. The effect of curcumin on proliferation was assessed using cell counting kit-8 assays and flow cytometry with Ki67 staining. In addition, H19 expression was quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometric detection of Annexin V and propidium iodide double staining. The protein expression of p53, B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2, Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and c-Myc in curcumin-treated cells was detected by western blotting. The present study demonstrated that curcumin inhibited the proliferation of SGC7901 cells and suppressed H19 expression in a concentration-dependent manner, while p53 expression was enhanced. Ectopic expression of H19 in SGC7901 cells reversed curcumin-induced proliferative inhibition and downregulated p53 expression. Furthermore, while curcumin induced cell apoptosis and enhanced the expression ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, which are downstream molecules of p53, ectopic expression of H19 inhibited curcumin-induced cell apoptosis. In addition, curcumin decreased the expression of the c-Myc oncogene, and exogenous c-Myc protein reversed the curcumin-induced downregulation of H19 expression. These results suggested that curcumin inhibits the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by downregulating the c-Myc/H19 pathway. Therefore, curcumin may be considered a novel therapeutic strategy to inhibit gastric cancer cell growth.

Traditional Chinese medicine as a cancer treatment: Modern perspectives of ancient but advanced science

“…26 Curcumin inhibits the expression of lncRNA H19 in a concentration-dependent manner, and its ectopic expression reverses curcumin-induced cell apoptosis and decreases p53 expression. 28 The lncRNA MALAT1 serves as a potential marker of survival in stage 1 NSCLC patients and is downregulated following resveratrol treatment. 202 It has been reported that the expression of a total of 538 lncRNAs can be reversed by treatment with berberine, 203 indicating that the global effect of berberine is to modulate lncRNA expression.…”

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) and its major constituent (curcumin) as nontoxic and safe substances: Review

“…It reduced liver fat in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (Rahmani et al, ). Curcumin as anticancer agent (Allegra et al, ) has good effects in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (Wilken, Veena, Wang, & Srivatsan, ), and also, it is effective in suppressing gastric, colon, and breast cancer (Banik, Parasuraman, Adhikary, & Othman, ; Khosropanah et al, ; Liu, Xiang, Wu, & Wang, ; Tong, Wang, Sun, & Suo, ). It has preventive effects on tobacco smoke‐induced liver cancer (Liang et al, ).…”

Effects of purified Omphalia�lapidescens protein on metastasis, cell cycle, apoptosis and the JAK-STAT signaling pathway in SGC-7901 human gastric cells

“…A number of studies have reported that p53, which is described as a ‘tumor suppressor’, regulates a variety of apoptotic signals in SGC-7901 cell ( 32 , 33 ). Bcl-2, an anti-apoptosis molecule, serves a critical function in controlling apoptosis ( 34 ). Caspase-3, classified as an executioner, mediates the final process of cell death ( 35 ).…”