The Effects of Apigenin and Curcumin on Autophagy Related Cell Death and Apoptosis

Gulay Melikoglu,Sera Kayacan,Fatma Kaya Dagistanli,Melek Ozturk,Kaan Yilancioglu,Ayse Seda Akdemir

doi:10.3390/proceedings2251586

Abstract

: Cervical cancer is one of the frequent types of cancer seen in females. It has been suggested that natural compounds can be used effectively for cancer treatment. Apoptosis and autophagy related cell death play important roles in suppression of tumorigenesis. Apigenin and curcumin are natural products isolated from plant extracts known to have antitumoral, antibacterial and antiviral effects. Varying doses of curcumin and apigenin were applied to HeLa cancer cell lines. The expression of the genes related to apoptosis and/or autophagy related cell death were measured using qRT-PCR and cell viability was measured using MTT assay. Our results showed that curcumin and apigenin are effective on apoptosis and autophagy related cell death in HeLa cells. We suggested that these natural products seem to be a new promising therapeutic approach in cancer.

Highlights

Cancer is a multifactorial disease defined as the uncontrolled division and proliferation of the cells
We found that curcumin and apigenin had cytotoxic effects on HeLa cells (Figure 1) and determined that curcumin and apigenin induced apoptosis and autophagy in a dose dependent manner with an IC50 value of 0.05 μg/μL (p < 0.001)
We showed that curcumin induced the cross-connection between apoptotic and autophagy related cell death in

Summary

Introduction

Cancer is a multifactorial disease defined as the uncontrolled division and proliferation of the cells. Curcumin is a polyphenol with strong antioxidant and antineoplastic properties that effect cell cycle, apoptosis and differentiation of the cells suppressing the proliferation of cancer cells [1,2]. A break-down in cell death mechanism leads to uncontrolled cell division and proliferation. Apoptosis can be triggered either intrinsically or extrinsically. The extrinsic pathway includes death receptors such as Fas, TRAILs and TNFR. Activation of caspase-3 initiates cell death mechanism leading to apoptosis. Autophagy is another major mechanism for cell survival which a deficiency in this system results with uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Cells can choose autophagy related proteins or cellular death proteins such as Beclin-1, Atg and

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