The NK-1 receptor is expressed in human melanoma and is involved in the antitumor action of the NK-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant on melanoma cell lines.

Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is aggressive and resistant to current therapies. It has been previously reported that the substance P and neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonists induce cell proliferation and cell inhibition, respectively, in human melanoma cell lines. Aprepitant is a selective high-affinity antagonist of the human NK-1 receptor. Until now, this drug has been used as an anxiolytic, antidepressant and antiemetic. Moreover, the antitumor action of aprepitant has been previously reported. However, the presence of NK-1 receptors in human melanomas and whether the antitumor action of the NK-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant is exerted on human malignant melanomas have not been previously described. The aims of this study are to show the presence of NK-1 receptors in human malignant melanomas and the antitumoral action of aprepitant against several human melanoma cell lines. Immunoblot analysis was used to determine the presence of NK-1 receptors in human melanoma cell lines, and immunohistochemistry was used to demonstrate NK-1 receptors in human melanoma samples. We performed an in vitro study of the cytotoxicity of the NK-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant on human melanoma cell lines. A coulter counter was used to determine viable cell numbers, followed by application of the tetrazolium compound MTS. The DAPI method was applied to demonstrate apoptosis. We observed that NK-1 receptors were present in all the melanoma samples studied as well as in human melanoma cell lines. We also showed that melanoma cell lines expressed mRNA for the NK-1 receptor. Moreover, after using a knockdown method, we showed that NK-1 receptors are involved in the viability of tumor cells. In this study, we also report that aprepitant, at 10-60 microM concentrations, elicits cell growth inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner in all melanoma cell lines studied, that the specific antitumor action of aprepitant occurs through the NK-1 receptor and that melanoma cell death is due to apoptosis. These findings show for the first time that the NK-1 receptor may be a promising new target and that the NK-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant could be a candidate as a new antitumor drug in the treatment of human melanoma.

Antitumoral action of the neurokinin-1-receptor antagonist L-733,060 and mitogenic action of substance P on human retinoblastoma cell lines.

PURPOSE: Activation of the neurokinin-1 receptor is known to induce proliferation in tumor cells, but it is as yet unknown whether this applies to retinoblastoma. This was an in vitro study of the growth inhibitory capacity of the potent and long-acting neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist L-733,060, at concentrations ranging from 7.5 to 20 microM, against the human retinoblastoma line WERI-Rb-1 and from 10 to 25 microM against the human retinoblastoma line Y-79. The ability of substance P (an neurokinin-1 stimulator) to activate the cell growth of these retinoblastoma cell lines was also determined. METHODS: A cell counter was used to determine the number of viable cells, followed by application of the tetrazolium compound WST-8 [2-(2-methoxy-4-nitrophenyl)-3-(4 nitrophenyl))-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, monosodium salt, colorimetric method to evaluate cell viability in this cytotoxicity assay. RESULTS: Nanomolar concentrations of substance P increased the growth of both cell lines and micromolar concentrations of L-733,060 inhibited the growth of the two cell lines studied, with and without previous administration of substance P. L-733,060 inhibited the growth of the WERI-Rb-1 and Y-79 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. IC50 was 12.15 microM for 49 hours for WERI-Rb1 and 17.38 microM for 40 hours for Y-79. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate that substance P is a mitogen and also indicate that the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist L-733,060 acts on both human retinoblastoma cell lines as an antitumoral agent.

Antitumoral action of the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist L-733 060 on human melanoma cell lines.

Melanoma represents 1% of all cancers and accounts for approximately 65% of skin cancer deaths. At present, effective treatment does not exist. Substance P (SP) is a neuropeptide expressed in invasive malignant melanomas. We studied the in vitro growth inhibitory capacity of the potent and long-acting neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist L-733 060 at concentration ranges of 2.5-20 microM, 10-30 microM and 20-50 microM in the melanoma cell lines COLO 858, MEL H0 and COLO 679, respectively. A Coulter counter was used to determine the number of viable cells, and the tetrazolium compound 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)2-(4-sulphophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) colorimetric method was used to evaluate cell proliferation. L-733 060 inhibited the growth of all three cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC(50)) was 8.7 microM at 48 h and 7.1 microM at 96 h for COLO 858, 27.5 microM at 24 h and 18.9 microM at 48 h for MEL H0, and 33.8 microM at 30 h and 31.5 microM at 72 h for COLO 679. These findings indicate that the NK1 receptor antagonist L-733 060 acts as an antitumoral agent. This action, shown here for the first time, suggests that the NK1 receptor antagonist L-733 060 could be a promising therapeutic drug in the treatment of the human melanoma.