Premium
Hypoxia‐Inducible Factor‐1 α and CD 271 inversely correlate with melanoma invasiveness
Author(s) -
Marconi Alessandra,
Borroni Riccardo G.,
Truzzi Francesca,
Longo Caterina,
Pistoni Federica,
Pellacani Giovanni,
Pincelli Carlo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0625
pISSN - 0906-6705
DOI - 10.1111/exd.12679
Subject(s) - melanoma , cancer research , hypoxia (environmental) , low affinity nerve growth factor receptor , biology , pathology , apoptosis , population , cell , receptor , neurotrophin , chemistry , medicine , biochemistry , genetics , environmental health , organic chemistry , oxygen
Melanoma is characterized, among other features, by microenvironmental factors and by an altered apoptotic machinery. Melanoma cell response to a hypoxic environment is transcriptionally regulated by the Hypoxia‐Inducible Factor ( HIF )‐1α. p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75 NTR ), also called CD 271, mediates apoptosis in several cell systems. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of HIF ‐1α and CD 271 in melanomas at different phases of progression, as evaluated by histology and reflectance confocal microscopy ( RCM ). By RCM , 41.67% tumors were characterized by the presence of a population of dendritic and pleomorphic cells (D+P), corresponding to in situ melanoma; 25% exhibited a predominantly round‐cell ( RN ) proliferation with histologic features of superficial melanoma, and 33.33% showed the presence of cells aggregated in nests ( DN ), typical of invasive melanoma. HIF ‐1α was scarcely detected in D+P and in RN melanomas, while it was highly expressed in DN tumors. By contrast, CD 271 positive cells were mostly detected in D+P population, and barely observed in the other subtypes. This work demonstrates that CD 271 expression inversely correlates with hypoxia in melanoma, and that the two markers may be used in the future as diagnostic/prognostic tools for this neoplasm.