Thymosin beta-10 expression in melanoma cell lines and melanocytic lesions: a new progression marker for human cutaneous melanoma.

When screening a subtraction library for sequences that were specifically expressed in highly metastatic human melanoma cell lines, a cDNA clone was isolated encoding thymosin beta-10. We found that expression of thymosin beta-10 mRNA was associated with metastatic behavior of various human melanoma cell lines in nude mice. Furthermore, Northern blot analysis showed that also in freshly harvested human melanocytic lesions thymosin beta-10 was differentially expressed. Although expression of thymosin beta-10 was also examined in other non-melanoma model systems and materials, no clear relation could be established with metastatic potential or malignancy. Therefore, we conclude that thymosin beta-10 can be considered as a new progression marker for human cutaneous melanoma.