The mechanism underlying proliferation-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects of curcumin on papillary thyroid cancer cells

Recently, many studies on health benefits associated with curcumin have been reported. In this study, the effects of curcumin on apoptosis of papillary thyroid cancer cell line K1 and its potential mechanisms were investigated. Curcumin was found to significantly inhibit cell viability and promoted cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, curcumin-induced cell apoptosis was characterized with a rapid stimulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Furthermore, curcumin-induced ROS generation led to the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and the disturbance of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. A decrease in expression of Bcl-2 and the cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) were observed after exposure to curcumin. Results of this study may elucidate the curcumin-induced apoptosis effects on K1 cells. Thus, our results indicate a role of curcumin as health-promoting food ingredient, as well as a potential chemotherapeutic agent which is able to fight against papillary thyroid cancer.