title: Transcriptional regulation of the melanoma prognostic marker melastatin (TRPM1) by MITF in melanocytes and melanoma.
abstract: Determining the metastatic potential of intermediate thickness lesions remains a major challenge in the management of melanoma. Clinical studies have demonstrated that expression of melastatin/TRPM1 strongly predicts nonmetastatic propensity and correlates with improved outcome, leading to a national cooperative prospective study, which is ongoing currently. Similarly, the melanocytic markers MLANA/MART1 and MITF also have been shown to lose relative expression during melanoma progression. Recent studies have revealed that MITF, an essential transcription factor for melanocyte development, directly regulates expression of MLANA. This prompted examination of whether MITF also might transcriptionally regulate TRPM1 expression. The TRPM1 promoter contains multiple MITF consensus binding elements that were seen by chromatin immunoprecipitation to be occupied by endogenous MITF within melanoma cells. Endogenous TRPM1 expression responded strongly to MITF up- or down-regulation, as did TRPM1 promoter-driven reporters. In addition, MITF and TRPM1 mRNA levels were correlated tightly across a series of human melanoma cell lines. Mice homozygously mutated in MITF showed a dramatic decrease in TRPM1 expression. Finally, the slope of TRPM1 induction by MITF was particularly steep compared with other MITF target genes, suggesting it is a sensitive indicator of MITF expression and correspondingly of melanocytic differentiation. These studies identify MITF as a major transcriptional regulator of TRPM1 and suggest that its prognostic value may be linked to MITF-mediated regulation of cellular differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Arlo J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Jinyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Sheldon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.forename: Christine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hershey
authors.forename: Hans R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Widlund
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011379:Prognosis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D050053:TRPM Cation Channels; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497234:MITF protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor; C497235:Mitf protein, mouse; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D050053:TRPM Cation Channels; C492059:TRPM1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; C116297:Trpm1 protein, mouse