Melatonin effects on intercellular junctional communication in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Print
Published on Friday, 14 July 2017

Abstract

Melatonin exerts a direct antiproliferative effect on estrogen-responsive MCF-7 cells in culture.

Recently, the importance of the anti-invasive actions of melatonin as a part of the oncostatic action of this indolamine has been reported.

Gap junctional intercellular communication is known to be involved in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation, and a decrease in intercellular junctional communication has been described in highly invasive mammary cancer cells.

Because melatonin at physiological doses (1 nM) shifts MCF-7 cells to a lower invasive status, we postulate that melatonin could modulate the levels of gap junctional intercellular communication in these tumor cells.

To test our hypothesis, we studied gap junctional intercellular communication in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells previously (7-8 days) treated, or not, with melatonin (10 microM or 1 nM).

Using the scrape-loading assay dye-transfer technique to introduce 0.05% Lucifer yellow into cells, we measured the ability of the tumor cells to transfer dye to adjacent cells. Rhodamine dextran (0.05%) was used as a control dye to verify that dye-transfer occurs through intercellular junctions.

The presence of melatonin (10 microM or 1 nM) in the culture medium significantly increased (P < 0.01) the transfer of the dye to adjacent cells through gap junctions.

This increase was greater at 10 microM melatonin, and averaged scan profiles of cells treated with melatonin 10 microM showed a statistically significant increase (P < 0.01) in the integrated optical density values, and a broadening of the densitometric scan.

These findings suggest that melatonin could exert its antitumor action, at least in part, by increasing regulatory signals that are passed between adjacent epithelial cells through intercellular junctions.

 



Download the complete article

 

About this publication.

 

See also:

- About Melatonin;

- Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the first-line treatment with somatostatin combined with melatonisn, retinoids, vitamin D3, and low doses of cyclophosphamide in 20 cases of breast cancer: a preliminary report;

- The Di Bella Method (DBM) improved survival, objective response and performance status in a retrospective observational clinical study on 122 cases of breast cancer;

- Complete objective response to biological therapy of plurifocal breast carcinoma.