ReviewMolecules (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Melatonin: Regulation of Prion Protein Phase Separation in Cancer Multidrug Resistance.
Review in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multiaxial Biophysical Control of Oncogenic Phase Separation by Indoleamines: A Proof-of-Concept Synthesis of Landscape-Level Regulation.Journal of pineal research · 2026Review
- Melatonin Targets Mitochondrial Redox Homeostasis: Optimizing the Intracellular Microenvironment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Cancer Drug Resistance: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.Oncology research · 2026Review
- Exploring immunotherapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases: a focus on Huntington's disease and Prion diseases.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2025Review
- Phase separation in mitochondrial fate and mitochondrial diseases.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Review
- Review
- How gallic acid regulates molecular signaling: role in cancer drug resistance.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2023Review
- Melatonin regulates cancer migration and stemness and enhances the anti-tumour effect of cisplatin.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2023Article
- Phase separation in cancer at a glance.Journal of translational medicine · 2023Review
- Light, Water, and Melatonin: The Synergistic Regulation of Phase Separation in Dementia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Aging-Related Ovarian Failure and Infertility: Melatonin to the Rescue.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Melatonin from Microorganisms, Algae, and Plants as Possible Alternatives to Synthetic Melatonin.Metabolites · 2023Review
- Prion therapeutics: Lessons from the past.Prion · 2022Review
- Understanding the Mechanism of Action of Melatonin, Which Induces ROS Production in Cancer Cells.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Melatonin: Regulation of Viral Phase Separation and Epitranscriptomics in Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Liquid-liquid phase separation in tumor biology.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2022Review
- Targeting phase separation on enhancers induced by transcription factor complex formations as a new strategy for treating drug-resistant cancers.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The unique ability to adapt and thrive in inhospitable, stressful tumor microenvironments (TME) also renders cancer cells resistant to traditional chemotherapeutic treatments and/or novel pharmaceuticals. Cancer cells exhibit extensive metabolic alterations involving hypoxia, accelerated glycolysis, oxidative stress, and increased extracellular ATP that may activate ancient, conserved prion adaptive response strategies that exacerbate multidrug resistance (MDR) by exploiting cellular stress to increase cancer metastatic potential and stemness, balance proliferation and differentiation, and amplify resistance to apoptosis. The regulation of prions in MDR is further complicated by important, putative physiological functions of ligand-binding and signal transduction. Melatonin is capable of both enhancing physiological functions and inhibiting oncogenic properties of prion proteins. Through regulation of phase separation of the prion N-terminal domain which targets and interacts with lipid rafts, melatonin may prevent conformational changes that can result in aggregation and/or conversion to pathological, infectious isoforms. As a cancer therapy adjuvant, melatonin could modulate TME oxidative stress levels and hypoxia, reverse pH gradient changes, reduce lipid peroxidation, and protect lipid raft compositions to suppress prion-mediated, non-Mendelian, heritable, but often reversible epigenetic adaptations that facilitate cancer heterogeneity, stemness, metastasis, and drug resistance. This review examines some of the mechanisms that may balance physiological and pathological effects of prions and prion-like proteins achieved through the synergistic use of melatonin to ameliorate MDR, which remains a challenge in cancer treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.