JNK pathway mediates curcumin-induced apoptosis and autophagy in osteosarcoma MG63 cells.

TLDR: The results suggest that autophagy may have an important role in resistance to apoptosis when MG63 cells are incubated with curcumin, and provide important insights into the interaction between apoptosis and Autophagy in osteosarcoma cells and clinical treatment strategies usingCurcumin.

Abstract: Human osteosarcoma is a common primary malignancy of the bone in children and adolescents It has been reported that curcumin is able to induce apoptosis in osteosarcoma MG63 cells through the mitochondrial pathway However, whether curcumin is able to induce autophagy and the interaction between apoptosis and autophagy in osteosarcoma cells has yet to be fully elucidated In the current study, it was determined that curcumin was able to significantly induce apoptosis, and lead to autophagy in MG63 cells Notably, inhibition of apoptosis enhanced curcumin-induced autophagy due to upregulation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway This finding was confirmed by the use of JNK-specific inhibitor, SP600125 Furthermore, our data showed that curcumin-induced apoptosis was increased when autophagy was completely inhibited by 3-methyladenine in MG63 cells These results suggest that autophagy may have an important role in resistance to apoptosis when MG63 cells are incubated with curcumin Thus, these results provide important insights into the interaction between apoptosis and autophagy in osteosarcoma cells and clinical treatment strategies using curcumin