Effects of Curcumin in Inhibiting Proliferation and Inducing Apoptosis in Human Lung Cancer Cells

Objective To investigate the effects of curcumin in inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis and the mechanism in human lung adenocacinoma cell line A2. Methods The proliferation of A2 cells were detected by MTT colorimetry after treated with curcumin (5,10,20,40,60,80,100,and 160 μmol/L) for 48 hours. Annexin V-PI staining and agarose gel electrophoresis were performed to determine the apoptosis of A2 cells,and the changes in apoptosis-related protein were detected by Western blot. Results Curcumin inhibited the proliferation of A2 cells in vitro in a dose- and time-dependant manner,and the IC50 of curcumin was 40 μmol/L. The apoptotic rate of A2 cells increased from 1.64% to 21.05%. DNA ladder was found after A2 cells were treated with curcumin for 48 hours. The expression of Survivin protein significantly decreased. Conclusion Curcumin could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of lung cancer cells by down-regulating the expression of Survivin.