Open Access

Jochen Rutz, Sebastian Maxeiner, Saira Justin, Beatrice Bachmeier, August Bernd, Stefan Kippenberger, Nadja Nicole Zöller, Felix Chun, Roman A. Blaheta

• Recent documentation shows that a curcumin-induced growth arrest of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells can be amplified by visible light. This study was designed to investigate whether this strategy may also contribute to blocking metastatic progression of RCC. Low dosed curcumin (0.2 µg/mL; 0.54 µM) was applied to A498, Caki1, or KTCTL-26 cells for 1 h, followed by exposure to visible light for 5 min (400–550 nm, 5500 lx). Adhesion to human vascular endothelial cells or immobilized collagen was then evaluated. The influence of curcumin on chemotaxis and migration was also investigated, as well as curcumin induced alterations of α and β integrin expression. Curcumin without light exposure or light exposure without curcumin induced no alterations, whereas curcumin plus light significantly inhibited RCC adhesion, migration, and chemotaxis. This was associated with a distinct reduction of α3, α5, β1, and β3 integrins in all cell lines. Separate blocking of each of these integrin subtypes led to significant modification of tumor cell adhesion and chemotactic behavior. Combining low dosed curcumin with light considerably suppressed RCC binding activity and chemotactic movement and was associated with lowered integrin α and β subtypes. Therefore, curcumin combined with visible light holds promise for inhibiting metastatic processes in RCC.