As cell-cycle dysregulation is a core event in neoplastic transformation, the role for SOX10 in maintaining cell-cycle control in melanocytes suggests a rational new direction for targeted treatment or prevention of melanoma.
These results show that SOX10 is more specific than MART-1 in distinguishing epidermal melanocytes on sun-damaged skin by avoiding overdiagnosis of melanoma.
The example of Sox10 and Rac1 genes provides detailed illustration of how interfering with these important genes for neural crest development can prevent melanoma formation.
In addition, SAMMSON is a target of the lineage-specific transcription factor SOX10 and its expression is detectable in more than 90% of human melanomas.
Using mutagenesis, co-transfection experiments and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we showed that transcription factors involved in meloe promoter activity in melanomas were the melanocytic specific SOX9 and SOX10 proteins together with the activated P-CREB protein.
The transcription factor SOX10 mediates the differentiation of neural crest-derived cells, and SOX10 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used primarily for the diagnosis of melanoma.
Improper regulation of SOX9 or SOX10 is also associated with cancerous transformation, and thus understanding the normal function of SOX proteins in the melanocyte will be key to revealing how these proteins contribute to melanoma.