Curcumin induces apoptotic cell death of activated human CD4+ T cells via increasing endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Curcumin induces apoptotic cell death of activated human CD4+ T cells via increasing endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Int Immunopharmacol. 2013 Feb 14; Authors: Zheng M, Zhang Q, Joe Y, Lee BH, Ryu DG, Kwon KB, Ryter SW, Chung HT Abstract Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic antioxidant compound, exerts well-known anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, the latter which can influence the activation of immune cells including T cells. Furthermore, curcumin can inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, through suppression of the NF-κB signaling pathway. The beneficial effects of curcumin in diseases such as arthritis, allergy, asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes and cancer may be due to its immunomodulatory properties. We studied the potential of curcumin to modulate CD4+ T cells-mediated autoimmune disease, by examining the effects of this compound on human CD4+ lymphocyte activation. Stimulation of human T cells with PHA or CD3/CD28 induced IL-2 mRNA expression and activated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. The treatment of T cells with curcumin induced the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway, initiated by the phosphorylation of PERK and IRE1. Furthermore, curcumin increased the expression of the ER stress associated transcriptional factors XBP-1, cleaved p50ATF6α and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in human CD4+ and Jurkat T cells. In PHA-activated T cells, ...
Source: International Immunopharmacology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Int Immunopharmacol Source Type: research