This study was aimed to explore the effect of
arsenic trioxide combined with
curcumin on proliferation and
apoptosis of KG1a
cells and its potential mechanism. The
cell survival rate was mesured by MTT; colony formation capacity was examined by
methylcellulose colony formation test;
flow cytometry was used to analyse the
cell surface molecules,
cell apoptosis rate and
cell cycle; the
cell morphology was observed with Wright-Giemsa
staining and the
protein expression of BCL-2, BAX, PARP was detected by
Western blot. The results showed that the
phenotype of KG1a
cells was CD34(+)CD38(-), while the
phenotype of
HL-60 cell was CD34(+)CD38(+). The former possessed a stronger colony
ability than the latter. Effect of
curcumin and
arsenic trioxide alone on
cell proliferation and inhibition was in
dose-dependent manner. Compared with
single drug-
treatment group, the
cell survival rate and colony number were lower, and the
apoptosis rate was higher in combined
drug-
treatment group.
Protein expression of BCL-2 and PARP was upregulated, while the
protein expression of PARP was downregulated in the combined
treatment group. It is concluded that compared with
HL-60 cells, KG1a
cells are the earlier
leukemia stem/
progenitor cells.
Arsenic trioxide combined with
curcumin can effectively inhibit the KG1a
cell proliferation and induce
apoptosis, which may be associated with the
downregulation of BCL-2 and PARP
protein expression and the
upregulation of
BAX protein expression.