Figure 2.

Curcumin dose-dependently inhibits HCV replication. (A) Curcumin inhibits luciferase reporter gene activity in Huh7.5-HCV cells. Cells were subcultured at a density of 4×10⁵ cells/well in 1 ml of culture medium in a 12-well plastic dish for 6 h. Curcumin or DMSO was added to the medium for 24 h. The cells were lysed and cell lysates were prepared for Renilla luciferase assay. (B) Curcumin inhibits HCV RNA expression in Huh7.5-HCV cells. Cells were subcultured at a density of 1.5×10⁶ cells in 8 ml of culture medium in a 6-cm plastic dish for 6 h. Curcumin or DMSO was added to the medium for 24 h. Total RNA was isolated and analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. (C) Curcumin inhibits HCV protein expression in Huh7.5-HCV cells. Cells were subcultured at a density of 1.5×10⁶ cells in 8 ml of culture medium in a 10-cm plastic dish for 6 h. Curcumin or DMSO was added to the medium for 24 h. Total protein was isolated and analyzed by western blot analysis. Measurement was performed in triplicate and was repeated three times.