Selenium Inhibits Metastasis of Murine Melanoma Cells through the Induction of Cell Cycle Arrest and Cell Death.
BACKGROUND
Melanoma is the most fatal form of skin cancer due to its rapid metastasis. Recently, several studies reported that selenium can induce apoptosis in melanoma cells. However, the precise mechanism remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effect of selenium on cell proliferation in murine melanoma and on tumor growth and metastasis in C57BL/6 mice.


METHODS
Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay in selenium-treated melanoma cells. Cell cycle distribution was analysized by staining DNA with propidum iodide (PI). mRNA and protein expression related to cell cycle arrest was measured by reverse transcription PCR and western blot. Tumor growth and metastasis was measured by in vivo model.


RESULTS
Selenium was suppressed the proliferation of melanoma cells in a dose dependent manner. The growth inhibition of melanoma by selenium was associated with an arrest of cell cycle distribution at G0/G1 stage. The mRNA and protein level of CDK2/CDK4 was suppressed by treatment with selenium in a time-dependent manner. In vivo, tumor growth was not suppressed by selenium; however tumor metastasis was suppressed by selenium in mouse model.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that selenium might be a potent agent to inhibit proliferative activity of melanoma cells.
Department of Anatomy and Research Center for Tumor Immunology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan 614-735, Korea.
Hyunkeun
H
Song
Indo
I
Hur
Hyun-Jin
HJ
Park
Joohyung
J
Nam
Ga Bin
GB
Park
Kyoung Hye
KH
Kong
Young Mi
YM
Hwang
Yeong Seok
YS
Kim
Dae Ho
DH
Cho
Wang Jae
WJ
Lee
Dae Young
DY
Hur