Desmoglein 2 promotes vasculogenic mimicry in melanoma and is associated with poor clinical outcome

LY Tan; C Mintoff; MZ Johan; BW Ebert; C Fedele; YF Zhang; P Szeto; KE Sheppard; GA McArthur; E Foster-Smith; A Ruszkiewicz; MP Brown; CS Bonder; M Shackleton; LM Ebert

Journal article

Desmoglein 2 promotes vasculogenic mimicry in melanoma and is associated with poor clinical outcome

LY Tan, C Mintoff, MZ Johan, BW Ebert, C Fedele, YF Zhang, P Szeto, KE Sheppard, GA McArthur, E Foster-Smith, A Ruszkiewicz, MP Brown, CS Bonder, M Shackleton, LM Ebert

Oncotarget | IMPACT JOURNALS LLC | Published : 2016

DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.10216

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Abstract

Tumors can develop a blood supply not only by promoting angiogenesis but also by forming vessel-like structures directly from tumor cells, known as vasculogenic mimicry (VM). Understanding mechanisms that regulate VM is important, as these might be exploitable to inhibit tumor progression. Here, we reveal the adhesion molecule desmoglein 2 (DSG2) as a novel mediator of VM in melanoma. Analysis of patient-derived melanoma cell lines and tumor tissues, and interrogation of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, revealed that DSG2 is frequently overexpressed in primary and metastatic melanomas compared to normal melanocytes. Notably, this overexpression was associated with poor clinical outcome. ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Karen Sheppard Author

Grant McArthur Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Science Foundation

Funding Acknowledgements

LE was supported by an RAH Research Fund Florey Fellowship. MS was supported by veski and Pfizer Australia. CB was supported by a Heart Foundation Fellowship [CR 10A 4983]. GM was supported by the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Charitable Trust and NHMRC Program Grant [1053792] and Fellowships [1002654; 1106576]. This project was supported by a grant from the NHMRC to CB and MS [1022150]; a Cancer Council SA Beat Cancer Project grant to LE, CB and MB; an NHMRC program grant to GM; The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Charitable Trust, the Melbourne Melanoma Project, the Victoria Cancer Agency and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.