The antitumor effect of curcumin in urothelial cancer cells is enhanced by light exposure in vitro

  • The natural compound curcumin exerts antitumor properties in vitro, but its clinical application is limited due to low bioavailability. Light exposure in skin and skin cancer cells has been shown to improve curcumin bioavailability; thus, the object of this investigation was to determine whether light exposure might also enhance curcumin efficacy in bladder cancer cell lines. RT112, UMUC3, and TCCSUP cells were preincubated with low curcumin concentrations (0.1-0.4 μg/ml) and then exposed to 1.65 J/cm2 visible light for 5 min. Cell growth, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and cell cycle regulating proteins along with acetylation of histone H3 and H4 were investigated. Though curcumin alone did not alter cell proliferation or apoptosis, tumor cell growth and proliferation were strongly blocked when curcumin was combined with visible light. Curcumin-light caused the bladder cancer cells to become arrested in different cell phases: G0/G1 for RT112, G2/M for TCCSUP, and G2/M- and S-phase for UMUC3. Proteins of the Cdk-cyclin axis were diminished in RT112 after application of 0.1 and 0.4 μg/ml curcumin. Cell cycling proteins were upregulated in TCCSUP and UMUC3 in the presence of 0.1 μg/ml curcumin-light but were partially downregulated with 0.4 μg/ml curcumin. 0.4 μg/ml (but not 0.1 μg/ml) curcumin-light also evoked late apoptosis in TCCSUP and UMUC3 cells. H3 and H4 acetylation was found in UMUC3 cells treated with 0.4 μg/ml curcumin alone or with 0.1 μg/ml curcumin-light, pointing to an epigenetic mechanism. Light exposure enhanced the antitumor potential of curcumin on bladder cancer cells but by different molecular action modes in the different cell lines. Further studies are necessary to evaluate whether intravesical curcumin application, combined with visible light, might become an innovative tool in combating bladder cancer.

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Author:Frederik RoosGND, Katherina Binder, Jochen RutzGND, Sebastian MaxeinerGND, August BerndORCiDGND, Stefan KippenbergerORCiDGND, Nadja Nicole ZöllerORCiDGND, Felix ChunORCiDGND, Eva JüngelORCiDGND, Roman A. BlahetaORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-502488
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/6374940
ISSN:1741-4288
ISSN:1741-427X
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30984278
Parent Title (English):Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine
Publisher:Hindawi
Place of publication:New York, NY
Contributor(s):Francisco Solano
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Date of first Publication:2019/03/11
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2019/05/13
Volume:2019
Issue:Art. 6374940
Page Number:9
First Page:1
Last Page:8
Note:
Copyright © 2019 Frederik Roos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
HeBIS-PPN:45377363X
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0