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Curcumin attenuates osteogenic differentiation and calcification of rat vascular smooth muscle cells

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Abstract

Vascular calcification has been considered as a biological process resembling bone formation involving osteogenic differentiation. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have shown the protective effects of curcumin on cardiovascular diseases. However, whether curcumin has effects on osteogenic differentiation and calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) has not been reported. In the present study, we used an in vitro model of VSMC calcification to investigate the role of curcumin in the progression of rat VSMC calcification. Curcumin treatment significantly reduced calcification of VSMCs in a dose-dependent manner, detected by alizarin red staining and calcium content assay. Similarly, ALP activity and expression of bone-related molecules including Runx2, BMP2, and Osterix were also decreased in VSMCs treated with curcumin. In addition, flow cytometry analysis and caspase-3 activity assay revealed that curcumin treatment significantly suppressed apoptosis of VSMCs, which plays an important role during vascular calcification. Furthermore, we found that pro-apoptotic molecules including p-JNK and Bax were up-regulated in VSMCs treated with calcifying medium, but they were reduced in VSMCs after curcumin treatment. However, curcumin treatment has no effect on expression of NF-κB p65. Taken together, these findings suggest that curcumin attenuates apoptosis and calcification of VSMCs, presumably via inhibition of JNK/Bax signaling pathway.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81470488 to J.Y.Y, 81325001 to J.S.O), and the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation, China (2015A030313260 to J.Y.Y, 2015A030312009 to J.S.O, 2016A030313226 to L.H.L), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2014A020221084 to L.H.L), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry (to J.Y.Y).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathophysiolgy, Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74 Zhongshan Er Road, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Menglin Hou, Yan Song & Lihe Lu

  2. Department of Histology and Embryology, Key Laboratory of Tissue Construction and Detection of Guangdong Province, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Zhenlin Li & Jianyun Yan

  3. Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Chufan Luo

  4. Division of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Jing-Song Ou

  5. The Key Laboratory of Assisted Circulation, Ministry of Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Jing-Song Ou

  6. Department of Cardiology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences and Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, China

    Huimin Yu

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  1. Menglin Hou
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  2. Yan Song
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Correspondence to Jianyun Yan or Lihe Lu.

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Hou, M., Song, Y., Li, Z. et al. Curcumin attenuates osteogenic differentiation and calcification of rat vascular smooth muscle cells. Mol Cell Biochem 420, 151–160 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-016-2778-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-016-2778-y

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