Curcumin protects against staurosporine toxicity in rat neurons.
OBJECTIVE
Curcumin is extracted from the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa Linn.) and is widely used as a food additive and traditional medicine. The present study investigated the activity of curcumin against staurosporine (STS) toxicity in cell culture.


METHODS
Rat hippocampal neurons in primary culture were exposed to STS (20 μmol/L) and treated with curcumin (20 μmol/L). Cell viability was tested by MTT assay and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured using the MitoSOX™ red mitochondrial superoxide indicator. Western blot was used to assess changes in the levels of caspase-3 (Csp3), heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and Akt.


RESULTS
The results showed that curcumin protects against STS-induced cytotoxicity in rat hippocampal neurons. Csp3, Hsp70, Akt and ROS activation may be involved in this protection.


CONCLUSIONS
Curcumin could be a potential drug for combination with STS in cancer treatment to reduce the unwanted cytotoxicity of STS.
State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnolog, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Xiao-Yan
XY
Qin
Ji-Hui
JH
Lv
Jia
J
Cui
Xue
X
Fang
Yan
Y
Zhang
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000633:toxicity*
D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D019311:Staurosporine; D003474:Curcumin