Figure 3. Curcumin inhibited HNSCCs migration.

(A,B) Curcumin significantly inhibited FaDu and Cal27 cells migration, as evidenced by a decrease in the number of crystal violet-stained cells. (C,D) Pretreatment of FaDu and Cal27 cells with curcumin resulted in inhibition of cell transmigration. 10 μM curcumin pretreatment of FaDu and Cal27 cells inhibited transmigration, which was statistically significant difference to the effect of control group. (E,F)Vasculogenic mimicry was measured in vitro using 3D-Matrigel capillary-like tubule structure formation assays: FaDu and Cal27 cells plated onto Matrigel form capillary-like tubule structures similar to in vivo neovascularization. FaDu and Cal27 cells were seeded in 96-well culture plates precoated with Matrigel; and then examined for tubule formation using an inverted microscope. (G,H)Tubule formation was markedly decreased in a dose-dependent manner in curcumin-treated cells. Cells remained >95% viable before and after performing the migration assay, excluding the possibility that drug-induced inhibition of migration was due to cell death. Data were expressed as mean ± SD. **p < 0.01.