Background Studies have demonstrated that the activated expression of nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 4 (NFATc4) can promote the progression of malignant melanoma with different subtypes. However, the target molecules of NFATc4 in melanoma and its expression across different types of melanoma remain unclear.
Objective To investigate the expression levels of NFATc4 and its targets MMP2 and COX2 in melanoma cells and various melanoma subtypes, as well as their correlation with clinicopathologic features.
Methods Melanoma cell lines with NFATc4 overexpression were established to assess NFATc4 function and its association with MMP2 and COX2 expression. The expressions of NFATc4, MMP2, and COX2 were examined using immunohistochemical methods in 11 cases of cutaneous acral melanomas, 10 cases of cutaneous non-acral melanomas, 15 cases of nasal mucosal melanoma, and 10 cases of pigmentation nevus. The correlation between NFATc4, MMP2, COX2, and clinicopathological features of different types of malignant melanoma was analyzed.
Results NFATc4 was found to promote the migration and invasion of melanoma cells, with MMP2 and COX2 expression showing a positive correlation. The expression of these three molecules in the three subtypes of malignant melanoma was significantly higher than that in pigmentation nevus (P ＜ 0.01). Furthermore, the expression levels of melanomas in acral and mucosa were higher than those in non-acral melanomas (P ＜ 0.05), and NFATc4 was positively correlated with the expression levels of MMP2 and COX2 (P < 0.01).
Conclusion These findings suggest that NFATc4, MMP2, and COX2 may play roles in the initiation and progression of acral and mucosal melanoma. However, further investigation is required to elucidate the specific mechanism of action.
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