Molecular mechanisms of melanoma metastasis.

The molecular changes associated with the transition of melanoma cells from radial growth phase to vertical growth phase (metastatic phenotype) are not very well defined. Expression of the tyrosine-kinase receptor c-KIT progressively decreases during local tumor growth and invasion of human melanomas. To provide direct evidence that c-KIT plays a role in metastasis of human melanoma, we transfected the c-KIT gene into c-KIT-negative, highly metastatic human melanoma cells and subsequently analyzed their tumorigenic and metastatic potential in nude mice. Enforced c-KIT expression significantly inhibited tumor growth and metastasis. Exposure of c-KIT-positive melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo to stem cell factor (SCF), the ligand for c-KIT, triggered apoptosis of these cells but not of normal melanocytes. These results suggest that the loss of c-KIT receptor may allow malignant melanoma cells to escape SCF/c-KIT-mediated apoptosis, thus contributing to tumor growth and eventually metastasis. The expression of c-KIT and other genes associated with malignant melanoma (such as MCAM/MUC18) is highly regulated by the transcription factor AP-2. The AP-2 protein is not expressed in malignant melanoma cells. Therefore, loss of AP-2 expression might be a crucial event in the progression of human melanoma.