The effect of nanomicelle curcumin, sorafenib, and combination of the two on the cyclin D1 gene expression of the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HUH7)

OBJECTIVE(S): Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most significant health condition around the world. As the only curative therapies, liver transplantation and surgical resection are the clinical treatments of HCC. Due to the systemic toxicity and severe side effects of these treatments, it is vital to establish new therapeutic approaches. The present study aimed to compare cyclin D1 (CCN D1) gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HUH7) when it is treated with nanomicelle curcumin and sorafenib. The purpose was to identify toxicity risk and antioxidant activity of these drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The toxic dose (IC(50)) of nanomicelle curcumin and sorafenib were detected after treatment of HUH7 cell lines with different dose of mentioned agents followed by MTT assay. CCN D1 gene expression was evaluated using real-time PCR. Following the Tukey’s multiple comparison tests, statistical analysis is done through Student’s t-test or ANOVA. RESULTS: The expression of the CCN D1 gene was statistically significant (P<0.001) at 289.31, 128 and 152.36 for sorafenib, nanomicelle curcumin and SNC (sorafenib-nanomicelle curcumin) respectively. The finding of this study revealed that, in comparison to sorafenib alone, the treatment of HUH7 with a nanomicelle curcumin IC(50) dose, in combination with sorafenib, might down-regulate CCN D1 gene expression. CONCLUSION: The present research indicates that the treatment of the cell line with only nanomicelle curcumin results in the down-regulation of cyclin D1. To further decrease cyclin D1 expression, the co-delivery of curcumin and sorafenib appears to induce the apoptotic process. As a result, the effect of sorafenib cytotoxicity and CCN D1 gene expression decreases twofold.