Targeting USP7 Identifies a Metastasis-Competent State within Bone Marrow-Resident Melanoma CTCs.

ABSTRACT: Systemic metastasis is the major cause of death from melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer. Although most patients with melanoma exhibit a substantial gap between onset of primary and metastatic tumors, signaling mechanisms implicated in the period of metastatic latency remain unclear. We hypothesized that melanoma circulating tumor cells (CTC) home to and reside in the bone marrow during the asymptomatic phase of disease progression. Using a strategy to deplete normal cell lineages (Lin^-), we isolated CTC-enriched cell populations from the blood of patients with metastatic melanoma, verified by the presence of putative CTCs characterized by melanoma-specific biomarkers and upregulated gene transcripts involved in cell survival and prodevelopment functions. Implantation

SUBMITTER: Vishnoi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6139068 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature