Mitochondrial mechanism apoptosis induced by cucurmosin in pancreatic cancer cells

Objective To study whether cucurmosin-induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells(PANC)-1 is via a mitochondrial pathway. Methods PANC-1 cells were treated with various concentrations(0, 2.5, 10.0 and 40.0 mg/L) of cucurmosin for 72 h.The change of mitochondrial transmembrane potential(ΔΨm) was measured by fluorescent staining and flow cytometry analysis; Western blotting analysis was performed to evaluate the expression levels of cytochrome C(Cyt- C)in cytoplasm, Caspase- 9, Caspase- 3, B- cell leukemia/lymphoma- 2(bcl- 2) and bcl- 2 associated X protein (bax). Results When treated with various concentration of cucurmosin(0,2.5,10.0,40.0 mg/L)for 72 h, the level of mitochondria membrane potential(167.23±8.27,123.56±7.26,83.25±5.36 and 40.45 ±5.87, respectively) was declined significantly(P 0.05) was not significant altered by cucurmosin. Conclusion Cucurmosin induced the apoptosis of PANC-1 cells via the up-regulation of Bax gene, leading to release of mitochondrial Cyt-C and then activation of Caspase-9 and Caspase-3. Thus apoptosis induced by cucurmosin is through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway. Key words: Cucurmosin; Pancreatic neoplasm; Apoptosis; Mitochondrial