Abstract: Objective To explore the effects and mechanism of curcumol on in vitro proliferation and apoptosis of human osteosarcoma cell lines MG-63 and U2OS. Methods MG-63 cells and U2OS cells were divided into control group and 20, 40, 80 and 160 μmol/L curcumol groups. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation levels of MG-63 and U2OS cells, and Transwell chamber assay was used for cell migration and invasion and flow cytometry was used for cell apoptosis. RT-qPCR and Western blot were applied to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of apoptosis-related proteins Bax, Bcl2, caspase and β-catenin. Results Curcumol inhibited the proliferation of MG-63 and U2OS cells in a concentration-dependent manner, and the IC₅₀ values were 128.03 μmol/L and 117.95 μmol/L respectively. Compared with the control group, curcumol significantly inhibited the in vitro migration and invasion of MG-63 and U2OS cells (P＜0.05) and induced the cell apoptosis (P＜0.05). Compared with the control group, expressions of Bax and caspase 3 were promoted while expression of Bcl2 was inhibited in curcumol groups (P＜0.05). The mRNA and protein expressions of β-catenin in MG-63 and U2OS cells were signifi- cantly inhibited (P＜0.05). Conclusions Curcumol significantly inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of human osteosarcoma cell lines MG-63 and U2OS.

Key words: Curcumol, β-catenin, osteosarcoma, cell proliferation, cell apoptosis