FIGURE 1.

Genotoxic stress kills functional p53-deficient cancer cells through the activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway. a, functional p53-deficient cancer cells, AML patient cells, and peripheral monocytes were treated with a dose range of curcumin, and viable cell numbers were scored. In a parallel experiment ionizing radiation was used as a positive control for such genotoxic stress. b, curcumin (25 μm)-treated HL-60 cell cycle phase distribution of nuclear DNA was determined flow cytometrically (upper panel). 7AAD/Annexin-V-FITC-positive HL-60 cells (regarded as apoptotic cells) were analyzed flow cytometrically (lower panel). c, curcumin-treated HL-60 cells were flow cytometrically assessed for MTP loss by decreasing DiOC₆ fluorescence. d, curcumin-treated HL-60 cells were analyzed by Western blotting for cytochrome c release (left panel) and caspase-9/-3/-8 activation (right panel). α-Actin/MnSOD was used as internal loading control. Values are mean ± S.E. (error bars) of five independent experiments in each case or representative of typical experiment.