RÉSUMÉ
Objective To establish the effect of curcumin on PTX-resistant esophageal cancer cell line EC9706/PTX and to investigate the mechanism of curcumin on the epithelial stromalization (EMT) of EC9706/PTX cells.Methods EC9706/PTX cells were established by medium concentration intermittent method.The drug resistance index and cross resistance were measured by MTT assay.The inhibitory effects of different concentrations of curcumin on EC9706/PTX cell proliferation were detected.The effects of curcumin on the morphological changes,migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells were examined by cytostatic staining,scratching and transwell invasion assay.The effects of curcumin on the expression of E-cadherin,N-cadherin,vimentin and fibronectin in EC9706/PTX cells at mRNA and protein levels were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot.The effect of curcumin on the expressions of NF-κB p65 and Snail in EC9706/PTX cells were detected by Western blot.Results The drug resistance index of EC9706/PTX was 28.4,which was cross-resistant to cisplatin and doxorubicin.Curcumin could inhibit the proliferation of EC9706/PTX cells.The migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells were significantly decreased under the action of curcumin at 20 μmol/L concentration.Fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression of Ecadherin was down-regulated and the expression of N-cadherin was up-regulated,and curcumin reversed this phenomenon.Western blot analysis showed that the expression of NF-κB p65 and Snail protein was enhanced after PTX-resistant generated in EC cell,but curcumin reversed this phenomenon.Conclusion Curcumin can inhibit the proliferation,migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells.The mechanism maybe that curcumin inhibits the NF-κB-Snail pathway.