The Effect of Curcumin on Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Exposed to Fine Particulate Matter: A Predictive Analysis

Molecules

Zhiguo Zhang¹  Xuyan Niu²  Cheng Lu²  Miao Jiang²  Gary G. Xiao³ 

[1] Institute of Basic Theory, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No.16 Nanxiaojie, Dongzhimennei, Beijing 100700, China;Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No.16 Nanxiaojie, Dongzhimennei, Beijing 100700, China;;Functional Genomics & Proteomics Laboratory, Osteoporosis Research Center, Creighton University Medical Center, 601N 30th ST, Suite 6730, Omaha, NE 68131, USA

关键词: curcumin;    fine particulate matter;    protein-protein interaction network;    bioinformatics prediction;    pathway analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules171012406

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) has been associated in humans with inflammation, oxidative stress and cancer. Studies had shown that curcumin could potentially inhibit these effects; however, there had been no in vivo or in vitro reports about the effects of curcumin on organisms exposed to PM_2.5. This predictive study explored the possible biological functions and pathways involved in the mechanism of curcumin inhibition of the hazardous effects of PM_2.5. For predictive analysis, microarray data were used to investigate the effect of PM_2.5 on human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC), and human target proteins of curcumin were retrieved from PubChem. Two protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were established based upon differential genes and target proteins, respectively, and the common network of these two networks was found. Functional and pathway analysis of the common network was performed using the Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) software. The results suggested that the predictive effects of curcumin on HBEC exposed to PM_2.5 were involved in bio-functions, including inflammatory response of airway, cancerogenesis, and apoptosis, and in pathways such as cancer, glucocorticoid receptor signaling, and NF-kappaB signaling. This study predicted for the first time that curcumin could be a potential therapeutic agent for protecting the human airway from the hazardous effects of PM_2.5.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.