Curcumin inhibits hypoxia-induced angiogenesis associated wtih tumor progression. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Curcumin inhibits hypoxia-induced angiogenesis via down-regulation of HIF-1.
Oncol Rep. 2006 Jun;15(6):1557-62. PMID: 16685395
College of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Korea.
Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) has a central role in cellular responses to hypoxia, including the transcriptional activation of a number of genes involved in angiogenesis in tumors. We found that curcumin, a natural, biologically active compound isolated from the commonly used spice turmeric, significantly decreases hypoxia-induced HIF-1alpha protein levels in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Moreover, curcumin suppressed the transcriptional activity of HIF-1 under hypoxia, leading to a decrease in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a major HIF-1 target angiogenic factor. Curcumin also blocked hypoxia-stimulated angiogenesis in vitro and down-regulated HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression in vascular endothelial cells. These findings suggest that curcumin may play pivotal roles in tumor suppression via the inhibition of HIF-1alpha-mediated angiogenesis.