Session: Undergraduate Research Posters: Biochemistry:

Parabens are organic compounds commonly used in cosmetic and food products due to their antimicrobial properties. Recent studies suggest that parabens accumulate in the body and have the potential to cause harm to healthy cells. Therefore, parabens could possibly be utilized to target cancer cells. M624 human melanoma cells were treated with dinitroparaben, a novel paraben. Cell viability was determined using clonogenic assay, which showed that dinitroparaben induced cell death. Western blot was used to detect and quantify the cleaved form of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, which indicates that apoptosis is occurring. Results showed that PARP was cleaved in the treated cells, suggesting that the melanoma cells underwent apoptosis. In the signaling pathway for apoptosis, PARP is cleaved by caspase-3. The current project will employ an enzyme activity assay to measure the activation of caspase-3 in M624 cells treated with dinitroparaben. Activation would verify that apoptosis is the method of cell death. A possible direction for further investigation would be to study the role of cytochrome c in triggering apoptosis in the treated cells, which would indicate involvement of the mitochondria and also serve as further verification that apoptosis is occurring.