Fig. 1.

Curcumin dose-dependently inhibits 3T3-L1 PA proliferation. PAs were stimulated with MDI and increasing concentrations of curcumin and stained with Oil red O at day 8 post-MDI (A) to assess lipid accumulation and cell lysates immunoblotted (B) for key adipogenic transcription factors. (C) Growth-arrested 3T3-L1 PAs were stimulated with MDI in the absence or presence of 20 µM curcumin at the onset of differentiation (0 h), 24 h post-MDI, 48 h post-MDI, or 72 h post-MDI. Cell lysates were harvested 8 days post-MDI and immunoblotted to assess adipocyte differentiation. (D) Density-arrested PAs were stimulated with MDI and increasing concentrations of curcumin. Cells were fixed at d0 and 20 h post-MDI and DNA stained with propidium iodide. DNA histograms were assessed via flow cytometry. (E) Cell lysates were assessed for apoptosis by immunoblotting for cleaved caspase 3 and PARP. Cell lysates treated with 1000 J/m² UV were used as a positive control for apoptosis.