Mitochondrial respiration--an important therapeutic target in melanoma.

The importance of mitochondria as oxygen sensors as well as producers of ATP and reactive oxygen species (ROS) has recently become a focal point of cancer research. However, in the case of melanoma, little information is available to what extent cellular bioenergetics processes contribute to the progression of the disease and related to it, whether oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) has a prominent role in advanced melanoma. In this study we demonstrate that compared to melanocytes, metastatic melanoma cells have elevated levels of OXPHOS. Furthermore, treating metastatic melanoma cells with the drug, Elesclomol, which induces cancer cell apoptosis through oxidative stress, we document by way of stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) that proteins participating in OXPHOS are downregulated. We also provide evidence that melanoma cells with high levels of glycolysis are more resistant to Elesclomol. We further show that Elesclomol upregulates hypoxia inducible factor 1-α (HIF-1α), and that prolonged exposure of melanoma cells to this drug leads to selection of melanoma cells with high levels of glycolysis. Taken together, our findings suggest that molecular targeting of OXPHOS may have efficacy for advanced melanoma.

Expression analysis of Ubc9, the single small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E2 conjugating enzyme, in normal and malignant tissues.

Unlike ubiquitination, which targets proteins for degradation, sumoylation modulates protein-protein interactions of target proteins. Although there are multiple E2 enzymes required for ubiquitination, there is only one E2-conjugating enzyme for sumoylation, which is Ubc9. In line with increasing evidence that sumoylation plays an important role in tumorigenesis, we recently demonstrated that Ubc9 is expressed at high levels in advanced melanomas and that blocking expression of Ubc9 sensitizes melanomas to the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. To determine whether and to what extent Ubc9 is expressed in other malignancies and their normal tissue counterparts, we undertook a detailed analysis of colon, lung, prostate, and breast cancer tissue microarrays. The findings, presented here, document that in primary colon and prostate cancer, Ubc9 expression is increased compared with their normal tissue counterparts, whereas in metastatic breast, prostate, and lung cancer, it is decreased in comparison with their corresponding normal and primary adenocarcinoma tissues. We also provide evidence that Ubc9 expression correlates positively with Dukes' stage and negatively with the Gleason score as well as breast cancer grade and that Ubc9 expression is substantially higher in the luminal than in the nonluminal type of breast cancer.

Suppressing the high-level expression and function of ATM in advanced-stage melanomas does not sensitize the cells to ionizing radiation.

Melanoma in its advanced stages is resistant not only to chemotherapy but also to radiation treatment. In line with efforts to identify genes that are key regulators of the disease and as such, may prove valuable targets for adjuvant and neo-adjuvant therapy of melanomas, we previously reported the presence of Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) tags, corresponding to the Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) gene, in SAGE libraries generated from tissues representing primary and metastatic melanomas. In the present study, we document that ATM is expressed at high levels in advanced-stage melanomas. Given its crucial role in the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), ionizing radiation, and UV damage, we pursued a series of functional studies involving the targeting of ATM by way of RNA interference or an ATM-specific small-molecule inhibitor, followed by exposure of the cells to ionizing radiation or radiation combined with a DNA-intercalating drug, to test the hypothesis that the high-level expression of ATM prevents melanoma cells from undergoing apoptosis in response to DNA DSB-inducing treatments. However, unlike as demonstrated in the case of other malignancies, our findings summarized herein do not point to ATM as a pivotal DNA damage sensor for advanced-stage melanomas, raising the possibility that in these cells, genes other than ATM regulate and control the repair of DNA DSB.