Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 18;15(6):905-913.
doi: 10.18240/ijo.2022.06.07. eCollection 2022.

Effects of curcumin nanoparticles on proliferation and VEGF expression of human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Hai-Sheng Zheng  1 , Yu-Qing Lan  2 , Xing-Wu Zhong  1 , Huai-Sheng Zhou  3 , Jia-Yao Xu  1
Affiliations

Effects of curcumin nanoparticles on proliferation and VEGF expression of human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Hai-Sheng Zheng et al. Int J Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the effects of curcumin (Cur) nanoparticles loaded with chitosan derivatives grafted by deoxycholic acid (Chit-DC) on human retinal pigment epithelial (hRPE) cell proliferation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression.

Methods: Cur nanoparticles were synthesized with Chit-DC as the carrier and Cur as the supported drug. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method was used to detect the effects of different concentrations of Cur/Chit-DC, Chit-DC, and Cur on the proliferation of hRPE cells for different times. The changes of Cur/Chit-DC and Cur on hRPE cell cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of VEGF in hRPE cells treated with Cur, Chit-DC and Cur/Chit-DC at 10 µg/mL for 24h.

Results: Different concentrations of Chit-DC nanoparticle treated hRPE cells had no significant difference in terms of optical density (OD) values compared with the control group at 24h and 48h. Moreover, there was no change in the cell morphology under a light microscope. After 24h treatment with Cur/Chit-DC and Cur, the percentage of G0-G1 phase cells increased and the percentage of S phase cells decreased in all concentration groups. Cur/Chit-DC and Cur in all concentration groups inhibited the proliferation of hRPE cells in a time and dose dependent manner, and reduced the expression level of VEGF mRNA.

Conclusion: The Cur/Chit-DC nanoparticles can release Cur continuously and have sustained release function. Both Cur/Chit-DC nanoparticles and Cur could inhibit hRPE cells cultured in vitro, and could reduce the expression level of VEGF mRNA in hRPE cells.

Keywords: cell counting kit-8; curcumin; polymerase chain reaction; retinal pigment epithelial cells; vascular endothelial growth factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. hRPE cells
A: hRPE cells treated with Chit-DC nanoparticles for 24h. ×100; B: hRPE cells treated with Chit-DC nanoparticles for 48h. ×100. hRPE: Human retinal pigment epithelial; Chit-DC: Chitosan derivatives grafted by deoxycholic acid.
Figure 2
Figure 2. RNA integrity test: 5S, 18S, and 28S bands were visible.
Figure 3
Figure 3. RT-PCR gel diagram was used to detect VEGF mRNA expression levels in hRPE cells of each experimental group for 24h
The 1, 2, 3, and 4 were internal reference β-actin of control group, Chit-DC nanoparticle group, Cur-active drug group and Cur/Chit-DC nanoparticle group, respectively. The 5 for Marker; 6, 7, 8, and 9 were control group, Chit-DC nanoparticles group, Cur-crude drug group and Cur/Chit-DC nanoparticles group, respectively. RT-PCR: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; Cur: Curcumin; Chit-DC: Chitosan derivatives grafted by deoxycholic acid.
Figure 4
Figure 4. The relative optical density of VEGF in hRPE cells after 24h treatment in each experimental group
Cur: Curcumin; Chit-DC: Chitosan derivatives grafted by deoxycholic acid; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; hRPE: Human retinal pigment epithelial.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Niu YJ, Hu SQ. Expression of VEGF165 and VEGF165b in human retinal pigment epithelial cells in hypoxia and high glucose environment. Guoji Yanke Zazhi (Int Eye Sci) 2018;18(3):423–428.
    1. Corrie L, Gulati M, Vishwas S, Kapoor B, Singh SK, Awasthi A, Khursheed R. Combination therapy of curcumin and fecal microbiota transplant: potential treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Med Hypotheses. 2021;154:110644. - PubMed
    1. Wu W, Cao R, Han L. Systematic evaluation of curcumin protection of kidney in diabetic rats. Global Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2021;14(8):1540–1545.
    1. Li WF, Jiang JL. Research status of pharmacological action of curcumin. Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2017;33(10):957–960.
    1. Vasquez DH, Diaz M, Sanhueza C, Castiglione E, Gonzalez I, Valenzuela R, Owen G, Leyton L. Curcumin inhibits both hypoxia-induced VEGF up regulation in retinal pigment epithelium cells and angiogenesis of choroidal vascular cells. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014;55(13):603.

LinkOut - more resources