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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Using Caco-2 Cells to Study Lipid Transport by the Intestine
Published on: August 20, 2015
Absorption mechanism of whey-protein-delivered curcumin using Caco-2 cell monolayers
Ming Li1, Jie Cui2, Michael O Ngadi3
1School of Food Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73, Huanghe Road, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, PR China; College of Pharmaceutical and Food Science, Tonghua Normal University, 950, Yucai Road, Tonghua, Jilin 134001, PR China.
Abstract:
Curcumin (CCM) is a bioactive polyphenolic compound that suffers a low bioavailability because of its low water solubility. In this work β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg) and nanoemulsion were used as carriers to deliver curcumin. The pH stability of β-Lg-CCM was investigated. The digestion of β-Lg-CCM and the nanoemulsion was studied using an in vitro gastrointestinal model. The effect of different carriers on the permeability of curcumin was assessed using the Caco-2 cell monolayer model. The results revealed that the water solubility and the pH stability of curcumin significantly increased by binding with β-Lg. In SDS-PAGE experiments the β-Lg-CCM complex and nanoemulsion were found to be resistant to pepsin digestion but sensitive to trypsin. In the permeability experiment it was shown that the digested nanoemulsion and β-Lg-CCM improved significantly the permeation rate of curcumin.
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