Curcumin attenuates hyperglycemia-driven EGF-induced invasive and migratory abilities of pancreatic cancer via suppression of the ERK and AKT pathways.

Curcumin attenuates hyperglycemia-driven EGF-induced invasive and migratory abilities of pancreatic cancer via suppression of the ERK and AKT pathways. Oncol Rep. 2018 Oct 30;: Authors: Li W, Wang Z, Xiao X, Han L, Wu Z, Ma Q, Cao L Abstract The relationship between diabetes mellitus and pancreatic cancer is complex. Diabetes has been postulated to be both an independent risk factor and a consequence of pancreatic cancer. Our previous study confirmed that curcumin plays a vital role in inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer cells. However, whether curcumin attenuates hyperglycemia-induced cancer invasive and migratory abilities and the underlying mechanisms are not yet well understood. As high glucose is able to induce the expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF), which is intimately related with tumor progression, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether curcumin could influence the high glucose-induced EGF/EGFR pathway and the biological activity of pancreatic cancer cells. Human pancreatic cancer BxPC-3 cells were exposed to high glucose or EGF, with or without curcumin, LY 294002 (an Akt inhibitor) or PD 98059 (an ERK inhibitor). MTT, Transwell invasion and wound healing assays were used to detect the proliferation, invasion and migration potential of cancer cells. The activation of p-EGFR, p-ERK and p-Akt was determined by western blot analysis. The expression levels of uPA and E-cadherin...
Source: Oncology Reports - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Rep Source Type: research