PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Suping Ren
AU  - Paul M. Howell, Jr
AU  - Ying Han
AU  - Jiexi Wang
AU  - Minxia Liu
AU  - Yan Wang
AU  - Guobo Quan
AU  - Wei Du
AU  - Lei Fang
AU  - Adam I. Riker
TI  - Overexpression of the Progestagen-Associated Endometrial Protein Gene Is Associated With Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor in Human Melanoma
DP  - 2011 Sep 21
TA  - Ochsner Journal
PG  - 212--219
VI  - 11
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/11/3/212.short
4100  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/11/3/212.full
SO  - Ochsner J2011 Sep 21; 11
AB  - Background We recently reported that the progestagen-associated endometrial protein (PAEP) gene is overexpressed and promotes tumor proliferation and metastasis in human melanoma.Methods To identify the molecules that regulate its expression and oncogenic properties, we analyzed the gene microarray profiling of melanoma samples of serial clinical stage.Results We found that the expression profile of the PAEP gene parallels that of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF, r  =  0.86), a master regulator of melanocyte development and melanoma progression. This parallelism was further confirmed with semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis of melanoma-derived daughter cells. Transfection of melanoma cells with MITF small interfering RNA (siRNA) specifically diminishes PAEP gene expression, whereas PAEP siRNA transfection has no effect on MITF. Furthermore, knockdown of either the MITF or PAEP gene reveals a significant inhibition of tumor cell migration.Conclusions Our data indicate that PAEP expression is regulated in part by MITF and may thus play a role in MITF-mediated cell migration in human melanoma.