Melanin Quantification by Chemical Methods in Healthy and Melanoma Cell Lines Correlated with the Importance in the Development of Melanoma

In the last decade, the incidence of skin cancer has increased significantly and there is data that rank it as the most common form of malignancy in humans. Among the classified skin cancers, melanoma is the most severe with a significant mortality rate. The determining factor in the occurrence of skin cancer is generally recognised to be ultraviolet radiation. Skin pigmentation has been shown to provide a high degree of protection and this is due to melanin. In order to be able to consider certain hypotheses and to develop new approaches to melanoma, in this study it was studied the melanin content in certain cell types that have a direct connection with melanoma. The cell lines used in the study were: (i) human melanoma cell lines: A375, SK-MEL-1, SK-MEL-3, SK-MEL-5, SK-MEL-28, SH-4, and COLO 829; (ii) mouse melanoma cell lines: B164A5, B16F0, and B16F10; and (iii) healthy cell lines of human origin: HEMa (primary melanocytes), HaCaT (immortalised keratinocytes) and 1BR3 (human fibroblasts). The results obtained pointed out that A375, SK-MEL-28 and SK-MEL-5 cells do not produce melanin, SK-MEL-1, SH-4 and SK-MEL-3 cells produce melanin while COLO 829 cells � only in small passages produce melanin. Of the 3 lines of murine melanoma tested, the one that produces melanin in a higher concentration is B16F10, followed by B16F0 and B164A5.