Curcumin reduces pulmonary tumorigenesis in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-overexpressing transgenic mice

Scope: We investigated the inhibition of pulmonary tumor formation through treatment with curcumin in transgenic mice. Methods and results: In this study, a strain of transgenic mice carrying human vascular endothelial growth factor A₁₆₅ (hVEGF-A₁₆₅) gene to induce pulmonary tumor was used as an in vivo cancer therapy model. We found that curcumin significantly reduced hVEGF-A₁₆₅ overexpression to normal, specifically in Clara cells of the lungs of transgenic mice, and suppressed the formation of tumors. In addition, we demonstrated a relationship between curcumin treatment and the expression of VEGF, EGFR, ERK2, and Cyclin A at the transcriptional and translational levels. We also noticed a reduction of Cyclin A and Cyclin B after curcumin treatment that had an effect on the cell cycle. Curcumin-induced inhibition of Cyclin A and Cyclin B likely results in decreased progression through S and G2/M phases. These results demonstrated that the expression of proteins involved in the S to M phase transition in transgenic mice is suppressed by curcumin. Conclusion: A Data suggest that a blockade of the cell cycle may be a critical mechanism for the observed effects on vasculogenesis and angiogenesis following treatment with curcumin.