Avaliação do efeito do ácido cafeico em linhagem celular de melanoma cutâneo

Abstract

Cutaneous melanoma (MC) is an extremely aggressive cancer with low survival and high mortality. The vast majority of patients affected by this disease have metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy, making treatment ineffective. In this sense, the development of new agents for the treatment of MC is extremely important. One of the sources of great interest in this research is compounds of natural origin. Among these compounds, caffeic acid has shown a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, as well as antitumor effects on some cancers. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of caffeic acid on cutaneous melanoma cell line. Cells were cultured under optimal conditions and treated with 25 µM, 50 µM, 100 µM, 150 µM and 200 µM caffeic acid for 24 hours. We verified the effect of the compound on viability, cell cycle, ability to form colonies, cell death, migratory capacity, on parameters of purinergic system, oxidative stress and antioxidant molecules. The results showed that caffeic acid, at higher concentrations, modulated the purinergic system, increased ATP and AMP hydrolysis, reduced cell viability, induced cell cycle arrest, inhibited colony formation, induced apoptosis cell death, increased the gene expression of caspases 1, 3 and 8, reduced cell migration, did not alter the levels of TBARS, radical superoxide and nitric oxide and did not alter the levels of antioxidant molecules NPSH, PSH and vitamin C in cutaneous melanoma cells. These results suggest an antitumor effect of the compound on SK-Mel-28 cells. We have shown that modulation of the purinergic system and cell cycle can be targets for controlling tumor development and metastasis formation in the MC. This study provides original information on the effects by which caffeic acid may play a key role in preventing tumor progression in human melanoma.