KIT Suppresses BRAFV600E-Mutant Melanoma by Attenuating Oncogenic RAS/MAPK Signaling.

Abstract

The receptor tyrosine kinase KIT promotes survival and migration of melanocytes during development, and excessive KIT activity hyperactivates the RAS/MAPK pathway and can drive formation of melanomas, most notably of rare melanomas that occur on volar and mucosal surfaces of the skin. The much larger fraction of melanomas that occur on sun-exposed skin is driven primarily by BRAF- or NRAS-activating mutations, but these melanomas exhibit a surprising loss of KIT expression, which raises the question of whether loss of KIT in these tumors facilitates tumorigenesis. To address this question, we introduced a kit(lf) mutation into a strain of Tg(mitfa:BRAFV600E); p53(lf) melanoma-prone zebrafish. Melanoma onset was accelerated in kit(lf); Tg(mitfa:BRAFV600E); p53(lf) fish. Tumors from kit(lf) animals were more invasive and had higher RAS/MAPK pathway activation. KIT knockdown also increased RAS/MAPK pathway activation in a BRAFV600E-mutant human melanoma cell line. We found that pathway stimulation upstream of BRAFV600E could paradoxically reduce signaling downstream of BRAFV600E, and wild-type BRAF was necessary for this effect, suggesting that its activation can dampen oncogenic BRAFV600E signaling. In vivo, expression of wild-type BRAF delayed melanoma onset, but only in a kit-dependent manner. Together, these results suggest that KIT can activate signaling through wild-type RAF proteins, thus interfering with oncogenic BRAFV600E-driven melanoma formation. Cancer Res; 77(21); 5820-30. ©2017 AACR.

• Authors: James V Neiswender, Robert L Kortum, Caitlin Bourque, Melissa Kasheta, Leonard I Zon, Deborah K Morrison, Craig J Ceol
• Journal: Cancer research (Cancer Res) Vol. 77 Issue 21 Pg. 5820-5830 (11 01 2017) ISSN: 1538-7445 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 28947418 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Chemical References

• Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
• ras Proteins

Topics

• Animals
• Animals, Genetically Modified
• Blotting, Western
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• HEK293 Cells
• Humans
• In Situ Hybridization
• MAP Kinase Signaling System (genetics)
• Melanoma (genetics, metabolism, pathology)
• Mutation
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf (genetics, metabolism)
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit (genetics, metabolism)
• Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 (genetics, metabolism)
• Zebrafish (embryology, genetics, metabolism)
• ras Proteins (genetics, metabolism)