TY - JOUR AB - Melatonin is a naturally occurring molecule secreted by the pineal gland that exhibits antitumor properties and prevents the development of human cancer. However, little is known regarding the effects of melatonin on gallbladder cancer (GBC) cells. The present study aimed to investigate the role of melatonin on the prevention of GBC cell invasion. The GBC cell line, GBC‑SD, was treated with different concentrations of melatonin for different time periods, and the data indicated that melatonin markedly inhibited the invasion of GBC cells. Following treatment of GBC cells with melatonin, the protein levels of the epithelial marker, E‑cadherin, significantly increased, while the expression levels of the mesenchymal markers, N‑cadherin, Snail and vimentin, notably decreased. In addition, melatonin inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Following treatment of the cells with the ERK activator, tert‑Butylhydroquinone, the anti‑invasive effects of melatonin were reversed by rescuing epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition in GBC cells. Taken together, these results suggest that melatonin inhibits GBC invasiveness by blocking the ERK signaling pathway. Thus, melatonin may be used as a potential novel cancer therapeutic drug for the treatment of GBC. AD - ZhengZhou Engineering Laboratory of Organ Transplantation Technique and Application, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China AU - Tang,Hongwei AU - Shi,Xiaoyi AU - Zhu,Pengfei AU - Guo,Wenzhi AU - Li,Jie AU - Yan,Bing AU - Zhang,Shuijun DA - 2021/08/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2021.12870 IS - 2 JO - Oncol Lett KW - gallbladder cancer melatonin ERK signal pathway epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition migration and invasion PY - 2021 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 609 ST - Melatonin inhibits gallbladder cancer cell migration and invasion via ERK‑mediated induction of epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Melatonin inhibits gallbladder cancer cell migration and invasion via ERK‑mediated induction of epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12870 VL - 22 ER -