I have recently investigated into the difference of MITF expression patterns among the human melanoma cancer cell lines composed of SK-MEL-28, MeWo, 501MEL, and A375. These cells predominantly express M isoform of MITF and some of them show the relative expression of A isoform. In vitro, none of them exhibit black color, indicating that they are not able to produce melanin in high amounts. However, due to the analysis of a xenograft model in comparison with in vitro model, MITF expression somehow changes with ectopic melanin synthesis in vivo. What kind of molecular signal effectors might influence on the discrepancy in melanin synthesis potential and MITF expression pattern between in vitro and in vivo?
In vivo, MITF expression changes how in relationship to melanogenesis? (for exmaple, MITF expression goes down while melanin production goes up)
There are many signaling pathways that impact MITF expression in melanocytes/melanoma. I have attached a great review article that you might appreciate.
Your in vitro culture conditions may not stimulate melanogenesis in your melanoma cells, but under in vivo conditions, this may change.
I would be interested to have an more detailed explanation, in order to understand your result and to better help you address your question.
Thank you very much for informative review. MITF-M isoform exhibits the complexity in the differentiation, proliferation, cell cycle regulation, invasion and metastasis. It has been quite controversial to the degree of which Dct promoter contributes to the melanocyte-linegage in a specific manner. Indeed, Dct is one of the target genes for MITF-M, and furthermore, given that Dct-H2BGFP-Tg mice is the main tool to identify the melanocytic cell-lineage as well as Tuj1+ peripheral nerves, this review might be frustrating for my current PI.
Perhaps you should check, if in your in vitro cell culture conditions you have any source of tyrosine.
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