Evaluation of the Effect of Curcumin and Imatinib on BCR-ABL Expression Gene in Chronic Human k562 Cells

Background and Aims: Detection of overexpression in tumor-inhibiting genes provides valuable information for leukemia diagnosis and prognosis. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disorder determined by a well-defined genetic anomaly involving BCR-ABL translocation in the Philadelphia chromosome. Curcumin is a chemo-preventive agent for the primary cancer targets, such as the breast, prostate, lung, stomach, duodenum, colon cancers, and leukemias. Imatinib (Gleevec®, Glivec®) is a synthetic tyrosine kinase inhibitor that treats CML. This study aimed to investigate Curcumin and Imatinib's effect on K562, a human CML cell line that expresses p210 BCR-ABL. Materials and Methods: In this study, Curcumin nanomicelles and Imatinib's apoptotic effects on the K562 cells and the expression of BCR-ABL were studied. BCR-ABL gene expression was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The findings indicated a decrease in the desired gene expression, but the BCR-ABL gene expression of the samples treated with Curcumin nanomicelles did not differ significantly from Imatinib (group control). The amount fold change of the BCR-ABL gene for Imatinib and Curcumin nanomicelle was 0.497 and 0.540, respectively. Conclusions: The present study showed that treating cellular category k562 with Curcumin nanomicelle and Imatinib reduces the BCR-ABL gene expression. Also, data showed that the Curcumin nanomicelle and Imatinib induced the apoptotic process.