Background: Curcumin is a natural polyphenol. It is a potent suppressor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). High NF-kappaB levels have suppressive effect on E-cadherin (molecule related to cell-cell adhesion) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. We hypothesized that suppressing NF-kappaB by curcumin could up-regulate E-cadherin expression in NPC cells.
Materials and methods: NPC cell lines HK1 and HONE1 were used. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting were used to examine the expression changes of NF-kappaB and E-cadherin. A mouse xenograft model was used to validate the results.
Results: With curcumin treatment, NF-kappaB was down-regulated and E-cadherin was up-regulated in NPC cells. The negative correlation of NF-kappaB and E-cadherin was confirmed in the mouse xenograft model.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that curcumin could be used in preventing NPC migration by suppressing NF-kappaB and activating E-cadherin expression.