Rubio Sara, Estévez Francisco, Cabrera Javier, Reiter Russel J, Loro Juan, Quintana José
Departamento de Bioquímica, Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Centro de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
J Pineal Res. 2007 Mar;42(2):131-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2006.00392.x.
Melatonin is an indoleamine that is synthesized in the pineal gland and has an extensive repertoire of biological activities. In the present study, we found that melatonin reduced the growth of the human myeloid leukemia cells HL-60, inhibiting progression from G(1) to S phase of the cell cycle and increasing apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, melatonin treatment elevated cytochrome c release from mitochondria and augmented caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities. Upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2 was also observed upon melatonin treatment. The effects of melatonin were found not to be mediated by membrane receptors for the indoleamine. Together, our results suggest that melatonin reduces the viability of HL-60 cells via induction of apoptosis primarily through regulation of Bax/Bcl-2 expression.
