High-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of metabolic changes in melanoma cells after induction of melanogenesis.

Melanin synthesis affects melanoma behavior and tumor responsiveness to therapy; therefore, we investigated metabolic changes in melanoma cells after induction of melanogenesis. Amelanotic and melanotic melanoma cells were labeled with 13C precursors and changes in their metabolism was analyzed by high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). HRMAS NMR demonstrated clear differences in the pattern of metabolic intermediates between amelanotic and melanotic cells. Although the exact nature of the metabolites requires further investigations, our comparative studies clearly show that induction of melanogenesis is associated with changes of glucose and sodium acetate metabolism, demonstrating HRMAS NMR as a powerful and noninvasive technique to investigate such process.