Tumor progression in human malignant melanoma is associated with changes in α6/β1 laminin receptor

✍ Scribed by Pier Giorgio Natali; Maria Rita Nicotra; Renato Cavaliere; Diana Giannarelli; Aldo Bigotti

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 656 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910490203

✦ Synopsis

Cells of the melanocytic lineage have been shown to be capable of producing laminin and to lose this property during transformation. In the present study, we have evaluated im- munohistochemically whether these changes are paralleled by an altered expression of the a6@l laminin receptor. Results of this analysis have shown that while nevic cells display high levels of the receptor, this heterodimer undergoes a progressive decrease in expression in cutaneous melanomas of increasing invasiveness. A loss or unco-ordinated expression of the cullf3 complex is present in the majority of the rnetastatic foci at different body sites. The present results show that during transformation the a643 I laminin receptor undergoes quantitative alterations and deregulated expression of the 2 subunits. Although the functional relevance of these changes remains unknown, their occurrence in association with modifications of other cellular and extracellular macromolecules associated with tumor progression, strongly suggests a role in human melanoma progression.