ArticleJournal of pineal research2022
Melatonin drives apoptosis in head and neck cancer by increasing mitochondrial ROS generated via reverse electron transport.
Article in Journal of pineal research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Metformin Attenuates Sepsis-Induced Cardiomyopathy via Inhibition of Reverse Electron Transfer at Mitochondrial Complex I.Biology · 2026Article
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- Spatiotemporal dynamics of reactive oxygen species: implications for cellular homeostasis and redox therapies.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Review
- The tryptanthrin derivative g2 suppresses tongue squamous cell carcinoma via PI3K/AKT/P53 cathway modulation: evidence fromFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- The significance of mitochondrial DNA changes during the onset and progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Future oncology (London, England) · 2026Review
- Melatonin promotes cytotoxicity while reducing cell motility and antioxidant defenses in ovarian cancer cell lines.Toxicology reports · 2025Article
- NEK7 couples SDHB to orchestrate respiratory chain electron transport homeostasis that impedes liver fibrosis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Melatonin Overcomes Cancer Multidrug Resistance by Downregulating ABCB1 Expression and Modulating Mitochondrial Function.Journal of pineal research · 2025Article
- Melatonin alleviates oxidative stress induced damage in human iPSCs harboring mtDNA 3243A>G mutation via MAPK pathway.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Melatonin and Vitamins: A Promising Combination to Augment Conventional Anticancer Therapies.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial Reverse Electron Transport: Mechanisms, Pathophysiological Roles, and Therapeutic Potential.Biology · 2025Review
- Oxidative stress in cancer: from tumor and microenvironment remodeling to therapeutic frontiers.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- Hijacking homeostasis: the brain-body neural circuitry in tumor pathogenesis and emerging therapeutic frontiers.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- An engineered mitoCBE facilitates efficient mitochondrial DNA editing and modified mitochondrial transfer.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2025Article
- CKMT1 deficiency contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction and promotes intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis via reverse electron transfer-derived ROS in colitis.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
- A prognostic model for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma based on the mitochondrial metabolism-related genes.Translational cancer research · 2025Article
- The Role of Macrophages in Various Types of Tumors and the Possibility of Their Use as Targets for Antitumor Therapy.Cancers · 2025Review
- Idebenone Protects Photoreceptors Impaired by Oxidative Phosphorylation Disorder in Retinal Detachment.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The oncostatic effects of melatonin correlate with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, but how melatonin induces this ROS generation is unknown. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the two seemingly opposing actions of melatonin regarding its relationship with free radicals. We analyzed the effects of melatonin on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (Cal-27 and SCC-9), which were treated with 0.5 or 1 mM melatonin. We further examined the potential effects of melatonin to induce ROS and apoptosis in Cal-27 xenograft mice. Here we report that melatonin mediates apoptosis in head and neck cancer by driving mitochondrial reverse electron transport (RET) to induce ROS production. Melatonin-induced changes in tumoral metabolism led to increased mitochondrial activity, which, in turn, induced ROS-dependent mitochondrial uncoupling. Interestingly, mitochondrial complex inhibitors, including rotenone, abolished the ROS elevation indicating that melatonin increased ROS generation via RET. Melatonin also increased membrane potential and CoQ
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