Apoptosis of Human Esophageal Carcinoma Cell Line EC9706 Induced by Curcumin

Objective: To study the apoptosis effects of the human esophageal carcinoma cell line EC9706 cells induced by curcumin(Cur). Methods: The apoptosis effects of EC9706 cells induced by curcumin were detected by cell count, flow cytometry analysis, light microscope and electron microscope. Results: After treated with curcumin, the proliferation of EC9706 cells was inhibited, and the inhibitory rate was 69.9%. The results of flow cytometry analysis showed that curcumin could induce the emergence of the phase of apoptosis, and the rate was 23%. Agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that cell fragment exhibited characteristic DNA ladder.Cell nucleus concentrated and appeared granular fluorescence by Hoechst33258 staining. Light microscope and electron microscope showed that the morphology of the cells treated with curcumin appeared shrinked, cell nucleus concerntrated, chromatin agglutinated, mitochondria swelled, and apoptosis body formed. Conclusion: This study suggested that curcumin could induce apoptosis of the human esophageal carcinoma cell line EC9706 effectively, and provided important foundation and research proofs to study more about the therapy of esophageal carcinoma, the malignant tumor and apoptosis mechanisms.