Melanoma clonal subline analysis uncovers heterogeneity-driven immunotherapy resistance mechanisms.

Intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) can promote cancer progression and treatment failure, but the complexity of the regulatory programs and contextual factors involved complicates its study. To understand the specific contribution of ITH to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) response, we generated single cell-derived clonal sublines from an ICB-sensitive and genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous mouse melanoma model, M4. Genomic and single cell transcriptomic analyses uncovered the diversity of the sublines and evidenced their plasticity.

Noncoding RNA circuitry in melanoma onset, plasticity, and therapeutic response.

Melanoma, the cancer of the melanocyte, is the deadliest form of skin cancer with an aggressive nature, propensity to metastasize and tendency to resist therapeutic intervention. Studies have identified that the re-emergence of developmental pathways in melanoma contributes to melanoma onset, plasticity, and therapeutic response. Notably, it is well known that noncoding RNAs play a critical role in the development and stress response of tissues.

The Hitchhiker's Guide across a Waddington's landscape of melanoma.

Melanoma evolution may recapitulate the embryonic development of its progenitor tissue, neural crest (NC), but the exact process is unclear. In a recent issue of Nature, Karras et al. (2022) demonstrate that melanoma expansion mirrors the hierarchic process of NC differentiation, generating cell subpopulations, each with distinct function, including growth and metastasis.

Melanoma models for the next generation of therapies.

There is a lack of appropriate melanoma models that can be used to evaluate the efficacy of novel therapeutic modalities. Here, we discuss the current state of the art of melanoma models including genetically engineered mouse, patient-derived xenograft, zebrafish, and ex vivo and in vitro models. We also identify five major challenges that can be addressed using such models, including metastasis and tumor dormancy, drug resistance, the melanoma immune response, and the impact of aging and environmental exposures on melanoma progression and drug resistance.

PRL3-DDX21 Transcriptional Control of Endolysosomal Genes Restricts Melanocyte Stem Cell Differentiation.

Melanocytes, replenished throughout life by melanocyte stem cells (MSCs), play a critical role in pigmentation and melanoma. Here, we reveal a function for the metastasis-associated phosphatase of regenerating liver 3 (PRL3) in MSC regeneration. We show that PRL3 binds to the RNA helicase DDX21, thereby restricting productive transcription by RNAPII at master transcription factor (MITF)-regulated endolysosomal vesicle genes.

Multimodel preclinical platform predicts clinical response of melanoma to immunotherapy.

Although immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, only a subset of patients demonstrate durable clinical benefit. Definitive predictive biomarkers and targets to overcome resistance remain unidentified, underscoring the urgency to develop reliable immunocompetent models for mechanistic assessment. Here we characterize a panel of syngeneic mouse models, representing a variety of molecular and phenotypic subtypes of human melanomas and exhibiting their diverse range of responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB).

Melanoblast transcriptome analysis reveals pathways promoting melanoma metastasis.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma is an aggressive cancer of melanocytes with a strong propensity to metastasize. We posit that melanoma cells acquire metastatic capability by adopting an embryonic-like phenotype, and that a lineage approach would uncover metastatic melanoma biology. Using a genetically engineered mouse model to generate a rich melanoblast transcriptome dataset, we identify melanoblast-specific genes whose expression contribute to metastatic competence and derive a 43-gene signature that predicts patient survival.

Something Old, Something New: The Tumor Microenvironment Comes of Age.

In this issue, Weeraratna and colleagues demonstrate that observed differences in melanoma aggressiveness in younger versus older patients can be explained not just by cell-intrinsic alterations over time, but by age-dependent changes in fibroblasts and the extracellular matrix they help create. Their findings identify novel cellular targets for melanoma therapy, as well as candidate prognostic biomarkers to better inform clinical decisions for patients with melanoma..