Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Cancer Research
Honour Adewumi - Jarvis Christian College
Co-Author(s): Glendora Carter, Ph. D.; and Shakhawat Bhuiyan, Ph. D
Curcumin is a derivative of Turmeric spice, which is a yellow-pigmented root crop with a resilient sheath and bright orange flesh. It is originally known to be utilized in Asian dishes but, has been discovered to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial and anticancer characteristics. Different researchers have established great possibilities of curcumin’s ability to prohibit the growth of cancer cells especially because of its potentiality to differentiate between normal and cancerous cells. Curcumin was first secluded and crystallized in 1870 and is identified as 1, 6-heptadiene-3,5-dione-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl). Although Curcumin can be referred to as a non-conventional method for treating cancer, it might just have fewer side effects compared to conventional treatments and is also less expensive to afford. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death today though, different procedures and methods have been taken and are being taken to either stop or reverse this mutation, but there has not yet been a definite solution. During this research, the cancer cells that are experimented upon are the MCF (Michigan Cancer Foundation) 7 Human Breast Adenocarcinoma cells. The MCF-7 cell line was first discovered in 1970 from the breast tissue of a 69-year old Caucasian woman. They are adherent cells i.e. they grow on the surface of culture vessels and possess attaching-like morphological structures when viewed under the microscope. Research questions include understanding the effects of curcumin of the MCF-7 breast cancer cells with regards to the biomolecules of the cells. In this study, Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) was used to dissolve the curcumin in a solution for treatment of the cells. The effects of Curcumin were analyzed at different doses (5, 10, 15 and 25 µM) with a constant number of cells (300,000 cells/well), having positive and negative controls because the solvent DMSO, was used to dissolve the curcumin. The results indicated that after attachment of cells for 48 hours, the curcumin treatment at 15 µM showed more than 50% inhibition of cells within 24 hours. Records were taken not only on the viability MCF-7 cells but also with relevance to the protein by quantification using the MAGELLAN Software measured at 562 nm and Western Blotting. The curcumin declined the growth of cells thereby reducing the amount of protein concentrations. Moreover, Western blot analysis of signaling proteins from Curcumin treated cells showed the decreasing of p44/42 MAP kinase and increasing of cleaved Caspase3, suggesting that curcumin treatment induced the inhibition of the MCF-7 cells. Therefore, breast cancer treatment with curcumin seems to be a promising remedial path.
Not SubmittedFunder Acknowledgement(s): This research was funded by an NSF/HBCU-UP grant awarded to Dr. Shakhawat Bhuiyan Ph.D., Director of Biological research, Jarvis Christian College, Hawkins Texas. I appreciate Dr. S. Bhuiyan and Dr. G. Carter for their support during this study.
Faculty Advisor: Shakhawat Bhuiyan and Glendora Carter, Sbhuiyan@jarvis.edu
Role: I cultured the cells to obtain a growth curve. After this, I plated six-well plates with a constant concentration of cells and treated them with different doses of the curcumin solution having two control variables. After counting the cells for consecutive days, I extracted the protein from these cells and quantified the protein at 562nm. Obtaining a standard curve, I carried out Western Blotting using protein the samples. I did the whole research.