Loss of cohesin complex components STAG2 or STAG3 confers resistance to BRAF inhibition in melanoma.

ABSTRACT: The protein kinase B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF) is an oncogenic driver and therapeutic target in melanoma. Inhibitors of BRAF (BRAFi) have shown high response rates and extended survival in patients with melanoma who bear tumors that express mutations encoding BRAF proteins mutant at Val600, but a vast majority of these patients develop drug resistance. Here we show that loss of stromal antigen 2 (STAG2) or STAG3, which encode subunits of the cohesin complex, in melanoma cells results in resistance to BRAFi. We identified loss-of-function mutations in STAG2, as well as decreased expression of STAG2 or STAG3 proteins in several tumor samples from patients with acquired resistance to BRAFi and in BRAFi-resistant melanoma cell lines. Knockdown of STAG2 or STAG3 express

SUBMITTER: Shen CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5014622 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature