title: Melatonin action in tumor skeletal muscle cells: an ultrastructural study.
abstract: Melatonin (Mel), or N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, is a circadian hormone that can diffuse through all the biological membranes thanks to its amphiphilic structure, also overcoming the blood-brain barrier and placenta. Although Mel has been reported to exhibit strong antioxidant properties in healthy tissues, studies carried out on tumor cultures gave a different picture of its action, often describing Mel as effective to trigger the cell death of tumor cells by enhancing oxidative stress. Based on this premise, here Mel effect was investigated using a tumor cell line representative of the human alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), the most frequent soft tissue sarcoma affecting childhood. For this purpose, Mel was given either dissolved in ethanol (EtOH) or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at different concentrations and time exposures. Cell viability assays and ultrastructural observations demonstrated that Mel was able to induce a dose- and time-dependent cell death independently on the dissolution solvent. Microscopy analyses highlighted the presence of various apoptotic and necrotic patterns correlating with the increasing Mel dose and time of exposure. These findings suggest that Mel, triggering apoptosis in ARMS cells, could be considered as a promising drug for future multitargeted therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), Urbino University Carlo Bo, Via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino, Italy. Electronic address: sabrina.burattini@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burattini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), Urbino University Carlo Bo, Via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino, Italy. Electronic address: michela.battistelli@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battistelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Brescia University, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: silvia.codenotti@unibs.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Codenotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), Urbino University Carlo Bo, Via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino, Italy. Electronic address: elisabetta.falcieri@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Falcieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Brescia University, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: alessandro.fanzani@unibs.it.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fanzani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences (DiSB), Urbino University Carlo Bo, Via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino, Italy. Electronic address: sara.salucci@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salucci
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology; D019042:Muscle Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008550:Melatonin
keywords: Apoptosis; Melatonin; Rhabdomyosarcoma