Effect of curcumin on lung resistance-related protein (LRP) in retinoblastoma cells.

Purpose: Multidrug resistance to anticancer drugs is a major cause of chemotherapy failure in cancer patients. Lung resistance-related protein (LRP) has been identified as the major vault protein (MVP) in humans, which is associated with multidrug resistance in various cancer cells. Overexpression of LRP is found in many solid tumors and cancer cell lines.

Methods: In this study, curcumin mixture was used to study the modulation of LRP in Y79 retinoblastoma cell line by Western blot and RT-PCR.

Results: RT-PCR and Western blot was carried to determine the expression of LRP mRNA and protein level. Western blot and RT-PCR analysis showed that curcumin inhibited LRP expression in a dose-dependent manner in the Y79 retinoblastoma cell line.

Conclusion: These results demonstrate that curcumin modulated the expression of LRP in the Y79 retinoblastoma cell line. Thus, curcumin may be used as a chemosensitizer to make the retinoblastoma cells more sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy.