Physiological melatonin inhibition of human breast cancer cell growth in vitro: evidence for a glutathione-mediated pathway.

It is shown that 10 microM L-buthionine-[S,R]-sulfoximine (L-BSO), an inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (the rate-limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis), blocks the oncostatic action of 1 nM melatonin over a 5-day incubation, indicating that glutATHione is required for melatonin action.

Abstract

Melatonin, the chief hormone secreted by the pineal gland, has been previously shown to inhibit human breast cancer cell growth at the physiological concentration of 1 nM in vitro. In this study, using the estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human breast tumor cell line MCF-7, we have shown that 10 microM L-buthionine-[S,R]-sulfoximine (L-BSO), an inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (the rate-limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis), blocks the oncostatic action of 1 nM melatonin over a 5-day incubation, indicating that glutathione is required for melatonin action. The result was repeated with ZR75-1 cells, suggesting that the glutathione requirement is a general phenomenon among ER+ breast cancer cells. Addition of exogenous glutathione (1 microM) to L-BSO-treated groups restored the melatonin response in both cell lines. Further demonstration of the importance of glutathione was shown using the ER- breast tumor cell line HS578T, which is normally unresponsive to melatonin. Growth in this cell line was inhibited in the presence of 1 microM ethacrynic acid (an inhibitor of glutathione S-transferase) plus 1 nM melatonin, and this effect was blocked with 10 microM L-BSO. We also observed a steady decrease of intracellular glutathione in MCF-7 cells over a 5-day incubation, suggesting that these cells metabolize glutathione differently than do normal cells.