Luca M, Hunt B, Bucana C D, Johnson J P, Fidler I J, Bar-Eli M
Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
Melanoma Res. 1993 Feb;3(1):35-41. doi: 10.1097/00008390-199304000-00006.
The expression of the glycoprotein MUC18 in melanoma biopsies has previously been shown to increase with increasing tumour thickness, and thus to correlate with the probability of metastasis development. We have examined the expression of this molecule by nine human melanoma cell lines with known metastatic ability (both spontaneous and experimental) in nude mice. Examination of the expression of both the MUC18 mRNA and of the glycoprotein on the cell surface revealed a statistically significant correlation (P = 0.040) between its expression and the ability to form metastases in vivo. Although MUC18 shows sequence similarity to neural cell adhesion molecules, no correlation was observed between the site of origin of the metastatic lesions (brain, lymph node) and MUC18 expression.
先前研究表明，黑色素瘤活检中糖蛋白MUC18的表达随肿瘤厚度增加而升高，因此与转移发生的可能性相关。我们检测了九种已知在裸鼠中具有转移能力（包括自发转移和实验性转移）的人黑色素瘤细胞系中该分子的表达。对MUC18 mRNA及细胞表面糖蛋白表达的检测显示，其表达与体内形成转移灶的能力之间存在统计学显著相关性（P = 0.040）。尽管MUC18与神经细胞黏附分子存在序列相似性，但转移灶的起源部位（脑、淋巴结）与MUC18表达之间未观察到相关性。
