Mahboobe Seyed Hosseyni - Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Advance Sciences and Technology, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Amirali Gholamin - Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Advance Sciences and Technology, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Roohollah - Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Advance Sciences and Technology, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Majid Sadeghizadeh - Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancers and the leading cause of death, especially in womenthroughout the world. Various genetics and environmental factors have been identified as a risk factor for development of breastcancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained significant attention in recent years as new and crucial players in cancer development.Curcumin is a plant compound that has been shown to inhibit various aspects of cancer including apoptosis, inhibitionof cell proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis.Objectives: Elevated expression level of two lncRNAs, HULC and Linc-ROR, has been reported as contributing factor to the developmentof breast cancer. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of nanocurcumin on expression levels of these genes. Besides,apoptotic effect of nanocurcumin on MCF۷ cells was investigated.Methods: MCF۷ cells were exposed to various concentrations of nanocurcumin and their metabolic activity was measured by MTTassay. The level of HULC and Linc-ROR genes was evaluated by real-time PCR. Apoptosis was also determined by Annexin test.Results: Twenty micromollar ( m) concentrations of nanocurcumin significantly decreased the expression of HULC and Linc-RORgenes (P < ۰.۰۵). These concentrations also led to significantly higher apoptosis rate in MCF۷ cells (۹۷%) compared to cell treatedwith curcumin.Conclusions: Our findings suggested that nanocurcumin exhibits apoptotic effects on breast cancer MCF۷ cells by reducing theexpression level of two proto-oncogene lncRNAs, HULC and Linc-ROR, which are both involved in downregulation of p۵۳.

Breast Cancer, Nanocurcumin, Apoptosis, Long-Non Coding RNA