The curcumin-induced CIK cell cytotoxicity to gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and its mechanism

Objective To investigate the effect and the underlying mechanism of the curcumin-induced cytotoxicity of CIK cells to gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 in vitro.Methods The peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) from 10 healthy volunteers were induced in vitro with different cytokines and transferred into CIK cells.On the fifth day,the CIK cells were collected and were induced with the addition of curcumin at different concentrations,followed by 72 hours of culture under the condition of 37℃ and 5% CO2.The antitumor cytotoxicity of CIK cells to cell line SGC-7901 was determined by LDH assay.The content of phenotypes CD3+CD8+ and CD3+CD56+ of CIK cells,the levels of perforin and granzyme B were analyzed by a fluorescence activated cell sorter(FACS).Results ①The anti-tumor cytotoxicity of CIK cells exposed to curcumin on SGC-7901 was markedly elevated and the cytotoxicity reached 62.32%±1.28% at a concentration of 10 μmol/L curcumin,with significant differences in contrast with the control group(37.45%±1.12%,P0.05).②The level of perforin and granzyme B of CIK cells induced by curcumin remarkably increased(P0.05).③Curcumin could evidently upregulate the expression of CD3+CD56+ of CIK cells(P0.05) and downregulate the expression of CD3+CD8+ of CIK cells,compared with the control group(P0.05).Conclusion Curcumin can enhanced the CIK cell cytotoxicity to gastric cancer SGC-7901 and this mechanism is involved in the increase of perforin and granzyme B content as well as the upregulation of CD3+CD56+ expression.