The Effect of Curcumin on the NF- kB Apoptotic Signaling Pathway in Melanoma Cells

          One of the most common types of cancers is melanoma, a type of aggressive skin cancer. This type of cancer is becoming more dangerous due to becoming drug resistant. This makes research into alternative treatments extremely important. One alternative that has been found to be a possible treatment is curcumin. Curcumin is a possible treatment because of its ability to down regulate some transcription factors that are associated with proliferation as well as those associated with anti-apoptotic signaling pathways. One pathway that is seen to have an anti-apoptotic effect is the NF-kB pathway, meaning the inhibition of this pathway could be a viable option to find a treatment for various cancers where this pathway is present. The purpose of this experiment was to understand how curcumin affected the apoptosis of melanoma cells by affecting the NF-kB cell signaling pathway which induces both apoptosis and autophagy. The independent variables were the various concentrations of curcumin, while the dependent variables were the concentration signaling proteins along with cell proliferation. The hypothesis for this experiment was​ ​if the melanoma cells were exposed to higher concentrations of curcumin, then there would be a greater effect on cell viability and a decrease in the activity of the NF-kB pathway. The hypothesis was tested by observing cell viability, autophagy and performing a Western Blot. Overall, at the conclusion of the experiment, the hypothesis was proven correct. This is important because it provides information about which part of the pathway is susceptible to the curcumin.