Validating the use of the Biolog Mitochondrial Assay to Study Melatonin Toxicity

E-cadherin plays an essential role in cell-cell connections. Loss of these connections is an important step in the transition of normal cells into cancer cells. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the transition from a normal cell phenotype to metastatic cells that can grow without restrictions and invade other tissues. Loss of E-cadherin expression is a marker for EMT. Melatonin has been shown to increase E-cadherin expression in MCF7 breast cancer cells, and DU-145 prostate cancer cells. Research in our lab has shown that melatonin is toxic in concentration higher than 1 mM in these cells. The Biolog Mitochondrial Assays show how compounds affect mitochondrial function. This assay can be used to study toxicity of melatonin. In this study, we exposed DU-145 and MDA-MB-231 cells to melatonin concentrations between 3nM and 1mM. Mitochondrial function was followed for four hours using the Biolog Assay. Results show that melatonin does affect mitochondrial function in a dose dependent way.