pharmacology

Exome sequencing identifies recurrent mutations in NF1 and RASopathy genes in sun-exposed melanomas.

We report on whole-exome sequencing (WES) of 213 melanomas. Our analysis established NF1, encoding a negative regulator of RAS, as the third most frequently mutated gene in melanoma, after BRAF and NRAS. Inactivating NF1 mutations were present in 46% …

Modulation of Sox10, HIF-1alpha, Survivin, and YAP by Minocycline in the Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Handicaps following Hypoxic Insult.

Premature infants are at an increased risk of developing cognitive and motor handicaps due to chronic hypoxia. Although the current therapies have reduced the incidence of these handicaps, untoward side effects abound. Using a murine model of …

Identification of PLX4032-resistance mechanisms and implications for novel RAF inhibitors.

BRAF inhibitors improve melanoma patient survival, but resistance invariably develops. Here we report the discovery of a novel BRAF mutation that confers resistance to PLX4032 employing whole-exome sequencing of drug-resistant BRAF(V600K) melanoma …

PLX4032, a selective BRAF(V600E) kinase inhibitor, activates the ERK pathway and enhances cell migration and proliferation of BRAF melanoma cells.

BRAF(V600E/K) is a frequent mutationally active tumor-specific kinase in melanomas that is currently targeted for therapy by the specific inhibitor PLX4032. Our studies with melanoma tumor cells that are BRAF(V600E/K) and BRAF(WT) showed that, …

Genome-wide methylation and expression profiling identifies promoter characteristics affecting demethylation-induced gene up-regulation in melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Abberant DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides represents a common mechanism of transcriptional silencing in cancer. Since CpG methylation is a reversible event, tumor supressor genes that have undergone silencing through this mechanism …

Integrative analysis of epigenetic modulation in melanoma cell response to decitabine: clinical implications.

Decitabine, an epigenetic modifier that reactivates genes otherwise suppressed by DNA promoter methylation, is effective for some, but not all cancer patients, especially those with solid tumors. It is commonly recognized that to overcome resistance …