Investigation of potential cross talk between CXCR4 and MT1-MMP revealed that MT1-MMP accumulates intracellularly after melanoma cell stimulation with the CXCR4 ligand CXCL12, and that this process involves the activation of the Rac-Erk1/2 pathway.
In the human SK-MEL-5 melanoma cell line, CXCR4 mRNA expression was also increased under hypoxic conditions, whereas CXCR2 mRNA levels remained low and levels of CXCR3 and CXCR7 were undetectable.
Here, we present the results of T cell migration in one additional melanoma patient and T cell and tumor cell analyses for CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression, respectively, in 12 additional melanoma patients, indicating the preferential role of CXCR4 and CXCL12 in CTL migration toward melanoma cells.
Initially, microarray analysis was done to screen changes in chemokine receptor expression on melanoma cells after treatment with trichostatin A (TSA) and 5-Aza-2-deoxycytidine (5-Aza).