Identification of BRAF 3’UTR Isoforms in Melanoma
BRAF protein kinase is a crucial player in melanoma, as it belongs to the highly oncogenic RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway (Matallanas et al., 2011), is mutated in about 50% of melanoma cases (Cantwell-Dorris et al., 2011), is causally linked to melanomagenesis (Dankort et al., 2009) and has recently become a valuable therapeutic target against metastatic melanoma (Menzies and Long, 2014).
In the past years, the activity and regulation of BRAF protein have been studied extensively (Matallanas et al., 2011). However, the regulation of BRAF expression, which in principle is equally important, has been largely neglected. Here, we show that BRAF mRNAs exist in at least two isoforms, which differ in the length and sequence of their 3′UTRs, and we discuss the implications that this discovery may have in terms of BRAF biology.
Identification of BRAF 3’UTR Isoforms in Melanoma by Marranci A., Tuccoli A., Vitiello M., Mercoledi E., Sarti S., Lubrano S., Evangelista M., Fogli A., Valdes C., Russo F., Monte M.D., A. Caligo M., Pellegrini M., Capobianco E., Tsinoremas N., and Poliseno L. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2015 June 135(6):1694-7. Doi: 10.1038/jid.2015.47. Epub 2015 Feb 16. No abstract available. PMID: 25685929.