Quercetin mediated TET1 expression through miR-17 induced cell apoptosis in melanoma cells

Abstract Previous report suggested that the expression of ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins was abnormal in different cancers. Quercetin, has been demonstrated as anti-caner role in cancer development. To analyze the expression of TETs, quercetin treated with uveal melanoma cells in the present study. Our results suggested that the expression of TET1 was increased following treated with quercetin in OCM-1, SK-MEL-1 and B16 cells. In addition, quercetin treatment induced apoptosis and inhibited invasion. To further investigate if the expression of TET1 was associate with cell growth, apoptosis, migration and invasion, knocked down and overexpressing of TET1 was constructed. The results showed that the increased expression of TET1 induced cell apoptosis, increased 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and inhibited cell invasion. TET1 was a target gene of miR-17. Our results showed that inhibited expression of miR-17 increased TET1 expression in OCM-1 cells. To further confirm the effect of TET1 on melanoma tumors, nude mice was used. The results indicated that quercetin treatment increased TET1 expression and inhibited tumor growth. Taken together, these results suggested that quercetin can regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis through TET1 via miR-17 in melanoma cells.