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Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Through the Looking Glass: Time-lapse Microscopy and Longitudinal Tracking of Single Cells to Study Anti-cancer Therapeutics
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Curcumin induced G2/M cycle arrest in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells through the ROS-mediated p53 signaling pathway

Zijie Ye1, Danyang Chen2, Ruilin Zheng2

  • 1Department of Pediatric Urology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Journal of Food Biochemistry
|July 31, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Curcumin effectively inhibits neuroblastoma (NB) cell proliferation and migration. It induces apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle and activating key signaling pathways, offering a potential therapeutic strategy for this childhood cancer.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Neuroblastoma (NB) is a pediatric cancer with a high mortality rate.
  • Current clinical treatments for NB lack sufficient efficacy.
  • Curcumin exhibits known anticancer properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the therapeutic potential of curcumin against neuroblastoma.
  • To elucidate the mechanisms by which curcumin affects NB cells.

Main Methods:

  • MTT assays were used to assess cell proliferation.
  • Cell migration was evaluated.
  • Apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, caspase-3 activity, intracellular ROS, and p53/Bcl-2 pathways were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Curcumin significantly inhibited SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cell proliferation and migration.
  • Curcumin induced apoptosis via G2/M cell cycle arrest and activated caspase-3.
  • Curcumin increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activated p53 and Bcl-2 signaling pathways.

Conclusions:

  • Curcumin demonstrates significant anti-neuroblastoma activity in vitro.
  • The mechanism involves cell cycle arrest, apoptosis induction, and modulation of key signaling pathways.
  • Curcumin represents a promising therapeutic candidate for neuroblastoma treatment.
Keywords:
apoptosiscurcuminneuroblastomareactive oxygen species

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