Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
Assay for Phosphorylation and Microtubule Binding Along with Localization of Tau Protein in Colorectal Cancer Cells
Published on: October 10, 2017
Curcumin protects against staurosporine toxicity in rat neurons
Xiao-Yan Qin1, Ji-Hui Lv, Jia Cui
1State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnolog, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Objective:
Curcumin is extracted from the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa Linn.) and is widely used as a food additive and traditional medicine. The present study investigated the activity of curcumin against staurosporine (STS) toxicity in cell culture.
Methods:
Rat hippocampal neurons in primary culture were exposed to STS (20 μmol/L) and treated with curcumin (20 μmol/L). Cell viability was tested by MTT assay and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured using the MitoSOX™ red mitochondrial superoxide indicator. Western blot was used to assess changes in the levels of caspase-3 (Csp3), heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and Akt.
Results:
The results showed that curcumin protects against STS-induced cytotoxicity in rat hippocampal neurons. Csp3, Hsp70, Akt and ROS activation may be involved in this protection.
Conclusion:
Curcumin could be a potential drug for combination with STS in cancer treatment to reduce the unwanted cytotoxicity of STS.
