title: Combined effects of curcumin and triptolide on an ovarian cancer cell line.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As natural medicines in Asia, curcumin and triptolide extracted from different drug plants have proven to possess anticancer potential and widely used for anti-cancer research. The present study attempted to clarify that curcumin and triptolide synergistically suppress ovarian cancer cell growth in vitro.
  
  
  METHODS
  To test synergic effects, cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed after curcumin and triptolide combination treatment on ovarian cancer cell lines. Synergistic effects on apoptosis induction were determined by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss assay and flow cytometry analysis. Critical regulators of cell proliferation and apoptosis related were analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We showed that the combination of curcumin and triptolide could synergistically inhibit ovarian cancer cell growth, and induce apoptosis, which is accompanied by HSP27 and HSP70, indicating that HSP27 and HSP70 play the important role in the synergic effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From the result present here, curcumin and triptolide combination with lower concentration have a synergistic anti-tumor effect on ovarian cancer and which will have a good potential in clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wenling City Chinese Medicine Hospital, Wenling, Zhejiang, China. yingying_cai@yeah.net
authors.forename: Ying-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Wei-Ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ai-Ping
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian-Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D053078:Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D004224:Diterpenes; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C001899:triptolide; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D003474:Curcumin