Rodriguez Carmen, Martín Vanesa, Herrera Federico, García-Santos Guillermo, Rodriguez-Blanco Jezabel, Casado-Zapico Sara, Sánchez-Sánchez Ana María, Suárez Santos, Puente-Moncada Noelia, Anítua María José, Antolín Isaac
Department of Morphology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oviedo, c/Julian Claveria 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Mar 25;14(4):6597-613. doi: 10.3390/ijms14046597.
It is well established that melatonin exerts antitumoral effects in many cancer types, mostly decreasing cell proliferation at low concentrations. On the other hand, induction of apoptosis by melatonin has been described in the last few years in some particular cancer types. The cytotoxic effect occurs after its administration at high concentrations, and the molecular pathways involved have been only partially determined. Moreover, a synergistic effect has been found in several cancer types when it is administered in combination with chemotherapeutic agents. In the present review, we will summarize published work on the pro-apoptotic effect of melatonin in cancer cells and the reported mechanisms involved in such action. We will also construct a hypothesis on how different cell signaling pathways may relate each other on account for such effect.
众所周知，褪黑素在多种癌症类型中发挥抗肿瘤作用，主要是在低浓度下降低细胞增殖。另一方面，近年来在某些特定癌症类型中已描述了褪黑素诱导细胞凋亡的现象。其细胞毒性作用在高浓度给药后出现，且所涉及的分子途径仅得到部分确定。此外，在几种癌症类型中，当褪黑素与化疗药物联合使用时发现了协同作用。在本综述中，我们将总结已发表的关于褪黑素在癌细胞中的促凋亡作用以及报道的此类作用所涉及机制的研究。我们还将构建一个假设，说明不同细胞信号通路可能如何相互关联以解释这种作用。
