Curcumin effect on proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer stem cellsvia ATK/FoxM1 signaling pathway / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Curcumin has crucial inhibitory effects on various cancer cels and cancer stem cels. However, its effect on gastric cancer stem cels and the underlying mechanism of this effect are unclear. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of curcumin on gastric cancer stem cels and the underlying mechanism. METHODS:Tumor sphere-forming assay and gastric cancer stem cel markers (EpCAM and CD44) were used to separate gastric cancer stem cels from gastric cancer SGC7901 cel lines. Effects of curcumin on the proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer stem cels were determined by MTT and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression levels of FoxM1, p-AKT, and AKT. LY294002, an inhibitor of the PI3K/AKT pathway, was used to determine the regulatory relationship between AKT and FoxM1 signaling pathways. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The EpCAM+/CD44+ gastric cancer stem cels were successfuly isolated from SGC7901 cels. MTT assay showed that curcumin inhibited the proliferation of gastric cancer stem cels, while flow cytometry analysis showed that curcumin induced apoptosis in gastric cancer stem cels. In addition, the expression levels of p-AKT and FoxM1 were decreased by curcumin treatment. After being treated by LY294002, the expression levels of p-AKT and FoxM1 were down-regulated markedly. In conclusion, curcumin can inhibit cel proliferation and induce apoptosis in gastric cancer stem celsvia the ATK/FoxM1 signaling pathway.