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. 2025 Sep 8;52(1):872.
doi: 10.1007/s11033-025-10987-1.

Demethoxycurcumin induces apoptosis and reduces cell migration by affecting AKT/mTOR-dependent autophagy in human glioma U87MG and T98G cell lines

Bhavna Sharma  1 , Neetika Lal  1 , Kavita Dixit  1 , Niharika  1 , Laishram R Singh  1 , Pratibha Mehta Luthra  2
Affiliations

Demethoxycurcumin induces apoptosis and reduces cell migration by affecting AKT/mTOR-dependent autophagy in human glioma U87MG and T98G cell lines

Bhavna Sharma et al. Mol Biol Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Standard treatment for glioblastoma includes chemotherapy, alkylating agents such as temozolomide (TMZ); however, MGMT resistance leads to recurrence. Demethoxycurcumin (DMC) has been reported to inhibit cancer cell growth, induce apoptosis, and prevent metastasis in different cancer models. We investigated the DMC-induced apoptosis and autophagy via inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway in human glioma U87MG and T98G cell lines.

Materials and methods: U87MG and T98G cell lines were exposed to various concentrations of DMC to cell viability, ROS production and apoptosis. Levels of apoptosis and autophagy-related proteins such as Cyt c, Akt, mTOR, Beclin-1 and LC3I/II were measured by western blot. Autophagic protein LC3I/II was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining. Cell migration after 24 h using a wound-healing assay.

Results: DMC induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, leading to apoptosis and inhibited the survival proteins to trigger autophagy and effectively suppressed cell migration in both U87MG and T98G cell lines. Apoptosis and autophagy were more prominent in U87MG cells, whilereduction in cell migration was in T98G cells.

Conclusion: DMC induces cell death via ROS generation leads to apoptosis and autophagy through the Akt/mTOR pathway in U87MG and T98G cell lines. This study offers novel insights into the therapeutic potential of DMC for glioblastoma treatment.

Keywords: AKT/mTOR; Apoptosis; Autophagy; DMC; Glioblastoma; Glioma cell lines.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Ethics approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable.

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