Abstract: Objective: The effect of curcumin over human hepatoma cell line HL-7702 proliferation and the inhibitory mechanism were investigated.Methods: HL-7702 cultured in vitro was treated with a gradient concentration of curcumin（0，10，20，40,80μmol/L）for 48h or subjected to combinational treatment of PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002 with curcumin. Then MTT was applied to detect cell proliferation and Western blot was used to detect PI3K，AKT，mTOR，Bax,Bcl-2 protein level and caspase-3 activation status.Results: Curcumin inhibited HL-7702 proliferation in a dose-dependent manner via upregulating phosphorylation of PI3K, AKT and mTOR. Curcumin induced apoptosis of HL-7702 cells with increased Bax and caspase3 activation as well as decreased Bcl-2. In addition, LY294002 attenuated the effect of curcumin over cell proliferation and apoptosis. Conclusion: Curcumin inhibited proliferation and triggered apoptosis of human hepatoma cell HL-7702, which may be caused by downregulating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Key words: Curcumin, human hepatoma cell HL-7702, proliferation, PI3K/AKT/mTOR