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. 2012:2012:746426.
doi: 10.1155/2012/746426. Epub 2012 Mar 12.

Inhibitory Effect of Curcumol on Jak2-STAT Signal Pathway Molecules of Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Inhibitory Effect of Curcumol on Jak2-STAT Signal Pathway Molecules of Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Heng Wang et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012.

Abstract

Hyperplasia of synovial membrane in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a critical pathological foundation for inducing articular injury. The janus kinase and signal transducer and activator of transcription (Jak-STAT) pathway plays a critical role in synovial membrane proliferation induced by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). To explore the anti-cell proliferation mechanism of curcumol, a pure monomer extracted from Chinese medical plant zedoary rhizome, the changes of Jak2-STAT1/3 signal pathway-related molecules in synoviocytes were observed in vitro. In this study, the fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) in patients with RA were collected and cultured. The following parameters were measured: cell proliferation (WST-1 assay), cell cycles (fluorescence-activated cell sorting, FACS), STAT1 and STAT3 activities (electrophoretic mobility shift assay, EMSA), and the protein expressions of phosphorylated Jak2, STAT1, and STAT3 (Western blot). It was shown that curcumol could inhibit the RA-FLS proliferation and DNA synthesis induced by PDGF-BB in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. The transcription factors activities of STAT1 and STAT3 were obviously elevated after PDGF-BB stimulation (P < 0.05). Super-shift experiments identified the STAT1 or STAT3 proteins in the complex. Furthermore, the different concentration curcumol could downregulate the DNA binding activities of STAT1 and STAT3 (P < 0.05) and inhibit the phosphorylation of Jak2 while it had no effect on the protein expressions of STAT1 and STAT3. Positive correlations were found between changes of cell proliferation and DNA-binding activities of STAT1 and STAT3, respectively (P < 0.01). In conclusion, curcumol might suppress the FLS proliferation and DNA synthesis induced by PDGF-BB through attenuating Jak2 phosphorylation, downregulating STAT1 and STAT3 DNA-binding activities, which could provide theoretical foundation for clinical treatment of RA.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inhibitory effect of different concentration curcumol on FLS proliferation in patients with RA. 1: normal control; 2: PDGF-BB; 3: curcumol 25 μg/mL; 4: curcumol 50 μg/mL; 5: curcumol 100 μg/mL; 6: curcumol 200 μg/mL; 7: curcumol 400 μg/mL; 8: curcumol 800 μg/mL. Data are expressed as mean ± SD of triplicates. # P < 0.05, ## P < 0.01, compared with normal control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, compared with PDGF-BB.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Inhibitory effect of different concentration curcumol on FLS DNA synthesis in patients with RA. 1: normal control; 2: PDGF-BB; 3: solvent control; 4: curcumol 25 μg/mL; 5: curcumol 50 μg/mL; 6: curcumol 100 μg/mL. Data are expressed as mean ± SD of triplicates. # P < 0.05, ## P < 0.01, compared with normal control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, compared with PDGF-BB.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Curcumol inhibited STAT1 DNA-binding activity in FLS from patients with RA. Representative picture of three experiments of EMSA. Lane 1: negative control; lane 2: normal control; lane 3: PDGF-BB; lane 4: curcumol 25 μg/mL; lane 5: curcumol 50 μg/mL; lane 6: curcumol 100 μg/mL; lane 7: IgG control; lane 8: STAT1 antibody.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Curcumol inhibited STAT3 DNA-binding activity in FLS from patients with RA. Representative picture of three experiments of EMSA. Lane 1: negative control; lane 2: normal control; lane 3: PDGF-BB; lane 4: curcumol 25 μg/mL; lane 5: curcumol 50 μg/mL; lane 6: curcumol 100 μg/mL; lane 7: IgG control; lane 8: STAT3 antibody.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Curcumol inhibited p-Jak2 protein expression of FLS, and the STAT1 and STAT3 protein expression in FLS from patients with RA was not inhibited by curcumol. Representative picture of three experiments of western blot. Lane 1: normal control; lane 2: PDGF-BB; lane 3: curcumol 25 μg/mL; lane 4: curcumol 50 μg/mL.

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