Curcumin promotes neurite outgrowth via reggie-1/flotillin-2 in cortical neurons

Curcumin is well known as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. In this study, we provided convincing evidence for the function of curcumin in neurite outgrowth of cortical neurons. We discovered that curcumin treatment could promote the number of processes, mean process length, and maximum process length of primary neurons, which were inhibited by reggie-1 siRNAs or extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 antagonist. Furthermore, curcumin-induced neurite growth was related to the ERK1/2 phosphorylation, which was blocked by reggie-1 knockdown. Overall, our results implied that curcumin could mediate neurite outgrowth through reggie-1 and ERK1/2 pathway.