Abstract
Malignant melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with a high mortality rate. Nucleolar protein 14 (NOP14) has been implicated in cancer development. However, the role of NOP14 in malignant melanoma progression remains largely unclear. In this study, we observed that malignant melanoma tissue showed NOP14 down-regulation compared to melanocytic nevi tissues. Moreover, we observed that NOP14 expression was significantly associated with melanoma tumor thickness and lymph node metastasis. NOP14 overexpression in melanoma cells suppressed proliferation, caused G1 phase arrest, promoted apoptosis, and inhibited melanoma cell migration and invasion. Further investigations revealed that NOP14 overexpression reduced the expression levels of Wnt3a, β-catenin, and GSK-3β of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In summary, we demonstrated that NOP14 inhibited melanoma cell proliferation and metastasis by regulating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.
Highlights
The incidence of malignant melanoma, an aggressive cancer of the skin with a high mortality rate, has continued to increase in the past two decades [1]
We showed that compared to melanocytic nevi, malignant melanoma tissues showed down-regulation of Nucleolar protein 14 (NOP14) expression
These results indicated that abnormal NOP14 expression might be related to malignant melanoma pathogenesis in human
Summary
The incidence of malignant melanoma, an aggressive cancer of the skin with a high mortality rate, has continued to increase in the past two decades [1]. Malignant melanoma ranks as the fifth and seventh most common malignant cancer for males and females, respectively [2]. Fair skin, dysplastic nevi syndrome, age, and family history are the most common risk factors for the development of malignant melanoma [3]. Diagnosis of melanoma is associated with good prognosis; the median survival of patients with metastatic malignant melanoma is 6–9 months [4,5]. The current therapeutic interventions for metastatic melanoma, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, are not sufficient, and only negligible improvement in survival has been achieved overall [6]. Understanding the biology of malignant melanoma initiation and progression is imperative
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