title: Mutant BRAF: a novel mediator of microenvironmental escape in melanoma?
abstract: The acquisition of mutant BRAF is an important initiating event for melanoma development, although the process by which transformed melanocytes escape from keratinocyte control and disseminate to other organs is not well understood. Boyd et al. (2012) provide evidence that oncogenic BRAF contributes to the microenvironmental escape of melanocytes through the downregulation of E-cadherin expression via the transcriptional suppressor Tbx3.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Oncology, The Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. keiran.smalley@moffitt.org
authors.forename: Keiran S M
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Smalley
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; C106884:TBX3 protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf