Melatonin reverses H2O2-induced senescence in SH-SY5Y cells by enhancing autophagy via sirtuin 1 deacetylation of the RelA/p65 subunit of NF-κB

Autophagy, a degradation mechanism that plays a major role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and diminishes in aging, is considered an aging characteristic. Melatonin is an important hormone that plays a wide range of physiological functions, including the anti-aging effect, potentially via the regulation of the Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) pathway. The deacetylation ability of SIRT1 is important for controlling the function of several transcription factors, including nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). Apart from inflammation, NF-kappa B can regulate autophagy by inhibiting Beclin1, an initiator of autophagy. Although numerous studies have revealed the role of melatonin in regulating autophagy, very limited experiments have shown that melatonin can increase autophagic activity via SIRT1 in a senescent model. This study focuses on the effect of melatonin on autophagy via the deacetylation activity of SIRT1 on RelA/p65, a subunit of NF-kappa B, to determine whether melatonin can attenuate the aging condition. SH-SY5Y cells were treated with H2O2 to induce the senescent state. These results demonstrated that melatonin reduced a number of beta-galactosidase (SA-beta gal)-positive cells, a senescent marker. In addition, melatonin increased the protein levels of SIRT1, Beclin1, and LC3-II, a hallmark protein of autophagy, and reduced the levels of acetylated-Lys310 in the p65 subunit of NF-kappa B in SH-SY5Y cells treated with H2O2. Furthermore, in the presence of SIRT1 inhibitor, melatonin failed to increase autophagic markers. The present data indicate that melatonin enhances autophagic activity via the SIRT1 signaling pathway. Taken together, we propose that in modulating autophagy, melatonin may provide a therapeutically beneficial role in the anti-aging processes.