Figure 7

Involvement of NF-κB and STAT3 signaling in EMF-exposed N9 cells incubated in curcumin. N9 cells were pretreated with (+) or without (−) curcumin (20 μM) for 1 h, and then exposed to 2.45 GHz EMF (+) or sham exposed (−) for 20 min. Untreated cultures were used as a control. Curcumin pretreatment before EMF exposure significantly inhibits the STAT3 (A) and NF-κB (B) pro-inflammatory pathways. The nuclear extracts were prepared for Western blot analysis using antibodies against p65 NF-κB or PCNA (used as a loading control). *P < 0.05 vs the sham-exposed control group; ^# P < 0.05 vs the EMF-exposed group. con, control; Cur, curcumin; EMF, electromagnetic field; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen; p-STAT3, phospho-STAT3; STAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription.