Skin cancer articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    The transcription factor Nanog regulates self-renewal in pluripotent stem cells and cancer stem cells. Here the authors show that Nanog is expressed in mouse adult stratified epithelia, and its overexpression increases proliferation and aneuploidy and activates pathways associated to mitosis.

    • Daniela Piazzolla
    • , Adelaida R. Palla
    •  & Manuel Serrano

  • Article |

    Migrating cancer cells are round or elongated, and it is thought that the differently shaped cells invade surrounding tissue using different mechanisms. Here, Orgaz et al. show that the round cells secrete matrix metalloproteinases, which allow them to degrade surrounding connective tissue more effectively than elongated cells.

    • Jose L. Orgaz
    • , Pahini Pandya
    •  & Victoria Sanz-Moreno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    B-Raf is mutated in many melanomas but treatment of the disease with small molecules targeting the mutant protein often results in tumour resistance. Here, the authors show that mixed lineage kinases (MLK1-4) can reactivate the B-Raf signalling pathway in the presence of inhibitors, resulting in drug resistance.

    • Anna A. Marusiak
    • , Zoe C. Edwards
    •  & John Brognard

  • Article |

    Complex genomic alterations segregate melanoma into different molecular subsets, but for most subsets it is unclear whether they drive a distinct clinical behaviour. Here, the authors use gene-expression data from melanoma patients to search for outlier genes that correlate with survival and identify that MTSS1 is associated with metastasis.

    • Kirsten D. Mertz
    • , Gaurav Pathria
    •  & Stephan N. Wagner

  • Article |

    Cutaneous melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer. Here, the authors show that mutations in the TERT promoter of 287 primary melanomas are associated with age, Breslow thickness and tumour ulceration and frequently occur at sun-exposed sites.

    • Barbara Heidenreich
    • , Eduardo Nagore
    •  & Rajiv Kumar

  • Article |

    Spitzoid neoplasms constitute a spectrum of melanocytic tumours, characterized by distinct clinical, pathological and genetic features. Here, Wiesner et al. show that kinase fusions represent the majority of oncogenic aberrations in spitzoid neoplasms and may serve as therapeutic targets for metastatic spitzoid melanoma.

    • Thomas Wiesner
    • , Jie He
    •  & Boris C. Bastian

  • Article |

    The skin cancer treatment Aldara generates psoriasis-like symptoms in mice, which are thought to be due to stimulation of TLR7 by the active ingredient imiquimod. The authors show that some of these inflammatory effects are independent of both imiquimod and TLR7, implicating an unexpected role for the vehicle.

    • Anne Walter
    • , Matthias Schäfer
    •  & Maries van den Broek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposure to ultraviolet light is responsible for a large proportion of melanomas but the molecular mechanisms are unknown. In this study, melanoma is found to be induced in mice by UVA and UVB light in a pigment-dependent and -independent manner, respectively, resulting in different types of DNA damage.

    • Frances P. Noonan
    • , M. Raza Zaidi
    •  & Edward C. De Fabo

  • Article |

    Multivalent display of integrin antagonists enhances their efficacy, but current synthetic scaffolds used to display ligands are limited in range and precision. Englundet al. develop a new scaffold to study the multivalent effects of integrin antagonists across wide ranges of ligand number, density, and 3D arrangement.

    • Ethan A. Englund
    • , Deyun Wang
    •  & Daniel H. Appella

  • Article |

    The processes that regulate melanoblast migration during development are also thought to be involved in melanoma metastasis. Here, Prex1 null mice are shown to have a melanoblast migration defect and, when crossed to a mouse model of melanoma, are resistant to metastasis, suggesting a role for Prex1 in metastatic melanoma.

    • Colin R. Lindsay
    • , Samuel Lawn
    •  & Owen J. Sansom

  • Article |

    MITF is a transcription factor required for melanocyte development, which is activated in some melanomas. Zhao and colleagues show that USP13 removes ubiquitin from MITF, stabilizes MITF protein levels and enhances colony formation, suggesting that USP13 may be a therapeutic target in melanoma.

    • Xiansi Zhao
    • , Brian Fiske
    •  & David E Fisher

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