RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Effects of Curcumin-based Compounds on Proliferation and Cell Death in Cervical Cancer Cells JF Anticancer Research JO Anticancer Res FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 5293 OP 5298 VO 35 IS 10 A1 ZHANG, XIAOJIE A1 WANG, RUBING A1 CHEN, GUANGLIN A1 DEJEAN, LAURENT A1 CHEN, QIAO-HONG YR 2015 UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/10/5293.abstract AB Aim: To systematically investigate the effects of a class of curcumin-based compounds on cancer cell viability, proliferation, and apoptosis. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative potency were estimated by the trypan blue exclusion assay and WST-1 cell proliferation assay, respectively. Cell death pathways were discriminated according to plasma membrane integrity and lipid asymmetry cell profiles using a F2N12S and CYTOX AADvanced double staining flow cytometry-based assay. Results: Nine compounds (2-10) exhibit 13- to 58-fold better cytotoxic and anti-proliferative potencies than curcumin towards HeLa cells. In this cervical cancer cell model, dienone and 1-methylpiperidone serve as the favorable central linkers; 5-methylisoxazol-3-yl and 3-methylisoxazol-5-yl act as the optimal terminal aromatic moiety. Finally, the effects of compounds 6 and 10 on HeLa cells' plasma membrane integrity and lipid asymmetry suggest that the early cytotoxic effect of these compounds is due to a stimulation of apoptosis.