The aim of this work was to study the effect of curcumin on cell cycle in the human SK-MEL-37 melanoma cell line. In addition, morphological and structural analyses were also performed. Flow cytometric analysis showed a G0/G1 arrest at 5 µM after 24 h exposure and a concentration-dependent increase in the proportion of sub-G0 hypodiploid cells. Typical apoptotic events were also observed by the fluorescence microscopy, transmission and scanning electronic microscopy. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential was not detected. Results suggested that curcumin could arrest human melanoma cells at G0/G1 phase and induce a mitochondrial-independent apoptotic pathway.
curcumin; melanoma cells; apoptosis; cell cycle
