Inducibly decreased MITF levels do not affect proliferation and phenotype switching but reduce differentiation of melanoma cells.

ABSTRACT: Melanoma arises from neural crest-derived melanocytes which reside mostly in the skin in an adult organism. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a tumorigenic programme through which cells acquire mesenchymal, more pro-oncogenic phenotype. The reversible phenotype switching is an event still not completely understood in melanoma. The EMT features and increased invasiveness are associated with lower levels of the pivotal lineage identity maintaining and melanoma-specific transcription factor MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor), whereas increased proliferation is linked to higher MITF levels. However, the precise role of MITF in phenotype switching is still loosely characterized. To exclude the changes occurring upstream of MITF during MITF regulation in vivo, we empl

SUBMITTER: Vlckova K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5867098 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature