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Notch1 Signaling Promotes Primary Melanoma Progression by Activating Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase/Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase-Akt Pathways and Up-regulating N-Cadherin Expression

The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Requests for reprints: Meenhard Herlyn, Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program, The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Phone: 215-898-3950; Fax: 215-898-0980; E-mail: herlynm{at}wistar.org.

Cellular signaling mediated by Notch receptors results in coordinated regulation of cell growth, survival, and differentiation. Aberrant Notch activation has been linked to a variety of human neoplasms. Here, we show that Notch1 signaling drives the vertical growth phase (VGP) of primary melanoma toward a more aggressive phenotype. Constitutive activation of Notch1 by ectopic expression of the Notch1 intracellular domain enables VGP primary melanoma cell lines to proliferate in a serum-independent and growth factor–independent manner in vitro and to grow more aggressively with metastatic activity in vivo. Notch1 activation also enhances tumor cell survival when cultured as three-dimensional spheroids. Such effects of Notch signaling are mediated by activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt pathways. Both pathways are activated in melanoma cells following Notch1 pathway activation. Inhibition of either the MAPK or the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway reverses the Notch1 signaling-induced tumor cell growth. Moreover, the growth-promoting effect of Notch1 depends on mastermind-like 1. We further showed that Notch1 activation increases tumor cell adhesion and up-regulates N-cadherin expression. Our data show regulation of MAPK/PI3K-Akt pathway activities and expression of N-cadherin by the Notch pathway and provide a mechanistic basis for Notch signaling in the promotion of primary melanoma progression. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(8): 4182-90)

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