Curcumin induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation in infantile hemangioma endothelial cells via downregulation of MCL-1 and HIF-1α. Issue 7 (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lou, Suhui; Wang, Yanfang; Yu, Zujiang; Guan, Kelei; Kan, Quancheng
• Other Names: Li. Yan section editor.
• Is Part Of: Medicine. Volume 97:Issue 7(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: apoptosis -- curcumin -- endothelial cells -- infantile hemangioma; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine -- Périodiques; Geneeskunde; Medicine; Periodicals; Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000009562
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0025-7974

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Curcumin has been used as an alternative medicine for the treatment of infantile hemangiomas (IHs); however, the mechanism underlying the effectiveness of curcumin in IHs remains largely unclear. Methods: In this study, we isolated primary human hemangioma endothelial cells (HemECs) from fresh surgical specimens of 3 patients. We treated HemECs by curcumin and investigated the alterations in proliferative and apoptotic signaling pathways with cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry, western blotting, immunofluorescence, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results and Conclusion: We found that curcumin potently inhibited proliferation in HemECs, achieving low-micromolar IC50 (the half maximal inhibitory concentration) value. We also observed that treatment with curcumin induced apoptosis in HemECs, as evidenced by positively Annexin-V-FITC staining, caspase-3 activation, and cleavage of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in the treated cells. Moreover, we showed that curcumin suppressed the expression of antiapoptotic protein myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL-1), hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Altogether, our study suggests that the effectiveness of curcumin in IHs may be associated with its potent antiproliferative and apoptotic activities in HemECs.