Resveratrol inhibits proliferation, promotes differentiation and melanogenesis in HT-144 melanoma cells through inhibition of MEK/ERK kinase pathway

The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of resveratrol on the viability of HT-144 melanoma cells and formation of melanin. MTT assay was used for analysis of cell viability and western blot for determination of phospho-Mek 1/2, phospho-Erk 1/2 (Tyr-204), Mitf, PBG-D and p-CREB-1 expression. MIT assay results showed that treatment of HT-144 cells with various doses of resveratrol led to a concentration dependent inhibition of proliferation. The antiproliferative activity was significant at 15 mu M concentration of resveratrol after 24 h. Western blot analysis revealed that resveratrol caused significant reduction in the expression of phospho-extracellular signal related kinase (p-ERR) and p-MEK 1/2. Additionally, tyrosinase activity was increased by 1.5-6.8-fold on increasing the concentration of resveratrol from 1 to 15 mu M. Resveratrol treatment also enhanced the expression of cAMP-response element-binding proteins (CREB) after 24 h. Furthermore resveratrol treatment up-regulated porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D) expression in HT-144 cells. Taken together, the study demonstrates that resveratrol treatment inhibits proliferation and promotes melanogenesis of HT-144 cells through inhibition of MEK/ERK pathway. Therefore, resveratrol has a scope for further evaluation against melanogenesis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.