The role of a protein crucial for melanoma cell survival

The main objectives of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) Melanoma Task Force are to identify biomarkers of tumor progression and to validate new targets for melanoma treatment. Their research is particularly focused on finding "fingerprint" features of melanoma that distinguish this type of cancer from other types of cancer. A new study in the field, published in Nature Communications which also publishes other studies on recombinant human proteins, describes the role of a protein crucial for melanoma cell survival (CPEB4).

Melanomas are particularly aggressive, and the mechanism by which such behavior is driven is found to be difficult due to the high rate of unexpected mutations associated with the malignancy. The melanoma team, led by Marisol Soengas, is not only a senior author of this article, but also an expert on the "identity" of melanoma.

"In previous studies, we have shown that melanoma is very different from other types of tumors, because melanoma can activate autodegradable (autophagy) mechanisms. For example, it can control the internalization and secretion of molecules," Soengas explains. The CPEB4 protein of broad interest in the cancer field plays a selective role in melanoma cells and is indispensable.

Broadly speaking, CPEBs are involved in the regulation of gene expression and are associated with important cellular processes such as cell division, cell differentiation, cell polarization and cell migration. In a variety of tumor cells, CPEBs expression levels vary and look on the contrary, and they sometimes promote tumor and sometimes are anti-tumor. These effects have been described in other types of tumors, but not in melanomas.

CPEB4 is also a member of this family, which is "particularly attractive" to the authors because of its overexpression in tumors, such as with invasive gliomas and pancreatic cancers. As they pointed out, the level of this protein is very high in the early stages of melanoma, which makes the researchers suspect that it is related to cell proliferation, while they do not know the extent of this association.

Soengas' team compared the effects of CEPB4 on various tumors and noted that melanoma cells are "more dependent on this protein", because inhibition of CEPB4 can greatly inhibit melanoma cell proliferation. This "addiction" makes melanoma more vulnerable to attacks against this pathway of drugs, so CEPB4 can be a new target for the treatment of melanoma.

The researchers also said that CPEB4 and melanoma are closely related, because the protein can regulate factors (such as melanoma cells have unique functions MITF and RAB27A) expression. "Thus, CPEB4 may be a primary factor in distinguishing between the intrinsic characteristics of melanoma and other diseases," Soengas concluded. Flarebio offers good-quality recombinant proteins like recombinant TLR2 at competitive prices.