Endocrine Abstracts

Resveratrol, a dietary product present in grapes, vegetables, and berries, is phytoestrogen that regulates signaling pathways that control cell division, and growth, apoptosis, and metastasis. Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes. Especially, malignant melanoma is pernicious and proliferates more readily than any other skin cancer. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-cancer effect of resveratrol on melanoma cell proliferation. Treating A375SM cells with resveratrol resulted in a decrease in cell growth. We also examined the alteration of cell cycle-related genes by western blot. Treatment with resveratrol was found to increase the gene expression of p21 and p27 and decrease the gene expression of cyclin B. We confirmed the generation of ROS and ER stress at both the cellular and protein level using a DCF-DA assay, TUNEL assay, and western blot. Resveratrol induced the ROS-p38-p53 pathway by increasing the gene expression of phosphorylated p38 MAPK (p-p38 MAPK) and the p53 and ER stress pathway by increasing the gene expression of phosphorylated eIF2α (p-eIF2α) and CHOP. The enhanced ROS-p38-p53 pathway and ER stress pathway promoted apoptosis by downregulating Bcl-2 expression and upregulating BAX expression. Overall, resveratrol appears to be an inducer of ROS generation and ER stress and can be responsible for growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest of A375SM melanoma cells.