Strategy to Suppress Oxidative Damage-Induced Neurotoxicity in PC12 Cells by Curcumin: the Role of ROS-Mediated DNA Damage and the MAPK and AKT Pathways

Oxidative damage plays a key role in causation and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Inhibition of oxidative stress represents one of the most effective ways in treating human neurologic diseases. Herein, we evaluated the protective effect of curcumin on PC12 cells against H2O2-induced neurotoxicity and investigated its underlying mechanism. The results indicated that curcumin pre-treatment significantly suppressed H2O2-induced cytotoxicity, inhibited the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta psi m) through regulation of Bcl-2 family expression, and ultimately reversed H2O2-induced apoptotic cell death in PC12 cells. Attenuation of caspase activation, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, DNA damage, and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) all confirmed its protective effects. Moreover, curcumin markedly alleviated the dysregulation of the MAPK and AKT pathways induced by H2O2. Taken together, our findings suggest that the strategy of using curcumin could be a highly effective way in combating oxidative damage-mediated human neurodegenerative diseases.