Introduction: Curcumin, a natural compound present in turmeric (Curcuma longa) has been known to possess both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to evaluate the cytotoxic activities and to determine the mode of cell death induced by curcumin towards the human mammary carcinoma cells (MDAMB-231). Methodology: Cytotoxicity of curcumin and its effect on cell viability were determined by using MTT assay and trypan blue dye exclusion method, respectively. The mode of cell death was detected by viewing under a light microscope and through DNA fragmentation analysis. Results and discussion: Curcumin was cytotoxic to MDA-MB-231 cells with the IC50 of 17.25 ì g/ml. Cell viability treatment using curcumin at concentrations of 30 ì g/ml and 10 ì g/ml was significantly (p
The ctxB gene, the causative agent of cholera epidemic was successfully cloned from V. cholerae in E. coli. The insertion of the gene was confirmed by PCR as well as restriction digestion analyses. The sequencing results for the gene confirmed that the insert was in the correct orientation and in-frame with the P(BAD) promoter and it showed that the gene was 99% homologous to the published ctxB sequence. The CTB protein was successfully expressed in E. coli using the pBAD/His vector system. The expected protein of approximately 14 kDa was detected by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The use of pBAD/His vector to express the cholera toxin gene in E. coli would facilitate future study of toxin gene products.