Curcumin Enhances Radiosensitization of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma via Mediating Regulation of Tumor Stem-like Cells by a CircRNA Network

Daoqi Zhu; Meng Shao; Jiabin Yang; Miao Fang; Shiya Liu; Dandan Lou; Ruijiao Gao; Ying Liu; Aiwu Li; Ying Lv; Zhixian Mo; Qin Fan

doi:10.7150/jca.39511

Curcumin Enhances Radiosensitization of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma via Mediating Regulation of Tumor Stem-like Cells by a CircRNA Network

J Cancer. 2020 Feb 10;11(8):2360-2370. doi: 10.7150/jca.39511. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Daoqi Zhu¹, Meng Shao¹, Jiabin Yang¹, Miao Fang¹, Shiya Liu¹, Dandan Lou¹, Ruijiao Gao¹, Ying Liu², Aiwu Li², Ying Lv², Zhixian Mo¹, Qin Fan¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangdong Guangzhou, 510515, China.
² NanFang Hospital, Guangdong Guangzhou, 510515, China.

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in cancer development via inhibition of miRNAs, which are associated with differentiation, proliferation, migration, and carcinogenicity. Curcumin has antioxidant and anti-cancer properties, and it has also been used as a radiosensitizer. In this study, we explored the potential relationships among curcumin, circRNAs, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We compared the differences in circRNA levels in NPC cell lines after radiotherapy and after treatment with curcumin, using a high-throughput microarray. Further, a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction network between radiation resistance NPC cell lines and tumor stem cells was constructed by applying bioinformatics. Finally, it was demonstrated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay and wound healing assay that curcumin could enhance radiosensitization of NPC cell lines via mediating regulation of tumor stem-like cells by the "hsa_circRNA_102115"-"hsa-miR-335-3p"-"MAPK1" interaction network.

Keywords: circRNA; curcumin; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; radiosensitization; tumor stem-like cells.