Melatonin modulates dysregulated circadian clocks in mice with diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma

Disruption of circadian rhythms, which are regulated by the circadian clock machinery, plays an important role in different long-term diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Melatonin has been reported to alleviate promotion and progression of HCC, but the potential contribution of circadian clock modulation is unknown. We investigated the effects of melatonin in mice which received diethylnitrosamine (DEN) (35 mg/kg body weight ip) once a week for 8 weeks. Melatonin was given at 5 or 10 mg kg^-1 d^-1 ip beginning 4 weeks after the onset of DEN administration and ending at the sacrifice time (10, 20, 30, or 40 weeks). Liver expression of Bmal1, Clock, Npas2, Rorα, and Sirt1 increased, whereas Cry1, Per1, Per2, Per3, CK1ε, Rev-erbα, and Rev-erbβ decreased following DEN administration. Melatonin treatment prevented changes in the expression of clock genes, and this effect was accompanied by an upregulation of the MT1 receptor and reduced levels of the hypoxia-inducible factors Hif-1α and Hif-2α. An increased expression of p21, p53, and PARP1/2, a higher Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and a lower expression of Cyclin D1, CDK6, HSP70, HSP90, and GRP78 proteins were also observed in melatonin-treated mice. Melatonin significantly potentiated the suppression of proliferation and cell cycle arrest induced by the synthetic REV-ERB agonist SR9009 in human Hep3B cells, and BMAL1 knocking down attenuated the pro-apoptotic and antiproliferative effect of melatonin. Results support a contribution of changes in the circadian clock components to the beneficial effects of melatonin in HCC and highlight the usefulness of strategies modulating the circadian machinery in hepatocarcinogenesis.