Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoactive
peptide that also plays a role in the tanning response of the skin. Animal and cell culture studies have also implicated ET-1 in
melanoma progression, but no association studies have been performed to link ET-1 expression and
melanoma in humans. Here, we present the first in-vivo study of ET-1 expression in pigmented lesions in humans: an ET-1 immunohistochemical screen of
melanocytic nevi,
melanoma in situ lesions, invasive
melanomas, metastatic
melanomas, and
blue nevi was performed. Twenty-six percent of
melanocytic nevi and 44% of
melanoma in situ lesions demonstrate ET-1 expression in the perilesional microenvironment, whereas expression in
nevus or
melanoma cells was rare to absent. In striking contrast, 100% of moderately to highly pigmented invasive
melanomas contained numerous ET-1-positive cells in the tumor microenvironment, with 79% containing ET-1-positive
melanoma cells, confirmed by co-staining with
melanoma tumor marker HMB45. Hypopigmented invasive
melanomas had reduced ET-1 expression, suggesting a correlation between ET-1 expression and pigmented
melanomas. ET-1-positive perilesional cells were CD68-positive, indicating macrophage origin. Sixty-two percent of highly pigmented metastatic
melanomas demonstrated ET-1 expression in
melanoma cells, in contrast to 28.2% of hypopigmented specimens. Eighty-nine percent of benign
nevi, known as
blue nevi, which have a dermal localization, were associated with numerous ET-1-positive macrophages in the perilesional microenvironment, but no ET-1 expression was detected in the melanocytes. We conclude that ET-1 expression in the microenvironment increases with advancing stages of melanocyte transformation, implicating a critical role for ET-1 in
melanoma progression, and the importance of the tumor microenvironment in the
melanoma phenotype.