Neural Crest Suppression and Melanoma

Melanoma tumors are composed of transformed melanocytes, which derive from the embryonic neural crest. Investigators used a zebrafish model to explore how processes that regulate neural crest development interact with mutations in the BRAF oncogene, the most commonly mutated gene in human melanoma.

The researchers discovered a gene expression pattern linking neural crest precursor cells to mature melanoma cells in transgenic BRAF(V600E), p53-null zebrafish embryos. The neural crest progenitors from these embryos failed to terminally differentiate. The similar gene expression pattern suggested that melanoma cells have “de-differentiated” to an earlier stage of embryonic development.

The authors then set out to identify compounds that would sup…