Curcumin induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells through p53-dependent Bax induction

The aim of this study as to determine the mechanisms of curcumin-induced human breast cancer cell apoptosis. From quantitative image analysis data showing an increase in the percentage of cells with a sub-G0/G1 DNA content, Ne demonstrated curcumin-induced apoptosis in the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, in which expression of wild-type p53 could be induced. Apoptosis was accompanied by an increase in p53 level as well as its DNA-binding activity followed by Bax expression at the protein level. Further experiments using p53-null MDAH041 cell as sell as lose and high p53-expressing TR9-7 cell. in which p53 expression is under tight control of tetracycline. established that curcumin induced apoptosis in tumor cells via a p53-dependent pathway in which Bax is the downstream effector of p53. This property of curcumin suggests that this molecule could haw a possible therapeutic potential in breast cancer patients. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.