Curcumin upregulated CISD2 protein expression in vivo. (A) CISD2 protein expression in mouse spinal cords following intraperitoneal administration of curcumin at a concentration of 40 mg/kg. The upper panel presents the results of immunoblotting analysis of CISD2 (15 kDa) with GAPDH (37 kDa) serving as an internal control. The lower panel presents the mean ± (SEM) of CISD2/GAPDH band intensity as a ratio of the results from the control group (n = 4). Curcumin enhanced CISD2 mRNA expression in vitro via JAK/STAT signaling pathways. mRNA expression of CISD2 (B) and iNOS (C) in neuron-like cells (SH-SY5Y). mRNA expression levels of CISD2 (D) and iNOS (E) in astrocyte culture. (F) CISD2 mRNA expression following treatment with curcumin and the inhibition of JAK/STAT signaling pathways in non-stimulated astrocytes: AG490: JAK/STAT inhibitor, LY294002: PI3K inhibitor, RO318220: PKC inhibitor, U0126: MAPK inhibitor. Vertical bars indicate the mean + (SEM) of mRNA expression (n = 3). * p < 0.05, and ##,** p < 0.01 indicate differences of statistical significance.