Study reveals ERK signaling insights in melanoma
Posted on February 12th, 2025
The team of Dr. Stjepan Uldrijan, an alumni SPARKee from the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, published a study in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealing the key role of the eIF4F protein complex in regulating the ERK signaling pathway in malignant melanoma, suggesting new possibilities for melanoma treatment.
This pathway, essential for tumor cell growth and division, is highly active in melanomas with BRAF and NRAS mutations. It has long been believed that the more active the pathway, the more tumor cells proliferate. However, recent findings indicate that ERK activity has to be strictly controlled in cancer cells. When it is too high, cancer cells stop dividing. The new study showed that eIF4F function is critical to keep ERK activity at levels compatible with melanoma growth. Small molecule compounds targeting eIF4F induce excessive ERK pathway activity, promoting tumor cell death.
This discovery indicates new possibilities for melanoma treatment, especially in cases resistant to current therapies. The study concerns approximately 80% of melanomas and potentially other tumor types. Although there is currently no approved drug targeting eIF4F, the results of this work represent a significant step toward the development of the next generation of anti-cancer therapies.
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