MicroRNA-9 up-regulates E-cadherin through inhibition of NF-κB1-Snail1 pathway in melanoma.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. Hsa-miR-9 has been shown to have opposite functions in different tumour types; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here we show that hsa-miR-9 is down-regulated in metastatic melanomas compared to primary melanomas.

Acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors mediated by a RAF kinase switch in melanoma can be overcome by cotargeting MEK and IGF-1R/PI3K.

BRAF is an attractive target for melanoma drug development. However, resistance to BRAF inhibitors is a significant clinical challenge. We describe a model of resistance to BRAF inhibitors developed by chronic treatment of BRAF(V)⁶⁰⁰(E) melanoma cells with the BRAF inhibitor SB-590885; these cells are cross-resistant to other BRAF-selective inhibitors.