The effects of melatonin on signaling pathways and molecules involved in glioma

Abstract

Glioblastoma is one of the most common brain tumors with high invasion and malignancy. Despite extensive research in this area and the use of new and advanced therapies, the survival rate in this disease is very low. In addition, resistance to treatment has also been observed in this disease. One of the reasons for rapid progression and failure in treatment for this disease is the presence of a class of cells with high proliferation and high differentiation, a class called glioblastoma stem‐like cells shown as being the source of glioblastoma tumors. It has been reported that several oncogenes are expressed in this disease. One important issue in recognizing the pathogenesis of this disease, and which could improve the treatment process, is the identification of involved oncogenes as well as molecules that affect the reduction of the expression of these oncogenes. Melatonin regulates the biological rhythm and inhibits the proliferation of malignant glioma cells due to antioxidant and anti‐apoptotic effects. Melatonin has been considered in biological processes and in signaling pathways involved in the development of glioma. The aim of this review is to investigate the effects of melatonin on signaling pathways and molecules involved in the progression of glioma.

<p>Long Noncoding RNA FGD5-AS1 Promotes Glioma Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion by Regulating wnt/β-Catenin Pathway</p>

“…19 However, with the change of life habits and the increase of life pressure, the incidence of glioma in recent years has become younger population, which caused widespread concerns. 20 At present, the difficulties in the treatment of glioma lie are rapid progression, poor prognosis and high postoperative recurrence. Therefore, it is necessary to start from the cellular and molecular level to target tumor growth, so as to assist clinical surgical resection and reduce postoperative recurrence rate.…”

Melatonin in Cancer Treatment: Current Knowledge and Future Opportunities

“…Glioma stem-like cells are subpopulation in glioblastoma, they play a crucial role in the tumor growth maintenance and recurrence [ 152 , 153 , 154 ], and promote self-renewing capacity and tumor propagation [ 155 , 156 , 157 ]. Melatonin showed an anticancer effect against glioblastoma, and it was also reported to overcome the multi-drug resistance in glioblastoma treatment [ 158 , 159 , 160 ]. Sung et al recently have investigated the impact of combination of melatonin with vorinostat on the expression of transcription factor EB and apoptosis in glioblastoma cells and glioma cancer stem cells.…”

Melatonin’s Antineoplastic Potential Against Glioblastoma

“…Various studies described the effects of melatonin against GBM, which is not only a recognized antioxidant molecule, but evidence is revealing its anticancer effects. Melatonin is a promising candidate to overcome multidrug resistance in the treatment of GBM [16][17][18]. Additionally, the dipeptide carnosine (β-alanyl-l-histidine) demonstrated antineoplastic effects not only limited to proliferation and cell-cycle control, but also having the ability to decrease the migration of GBM cells [19,20].…”

“…Melatonin's anticancer activity was described in several cancer types, such as ovarian, lung, breast, colon, and brain cancers [51][52][53][54][55]. Notably, melatonin may be able to reduce the proliferation of GBM-inducing cells (GICs), stem-like cells isolated from GBM specimens, as well as their self-renewal and clonogenic capability, modulating different biological processes and signaling [16,18]. In addition, no significant side effects were described with the use of melatonin in animal and human studies, even in extremely high doses [56,57].…”