The phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is frequently hyper-activated upon vemurafenib treatment of melanoma. We have here investigated the relationship between SRY-box 10 (SOX10), forkhead box 3 (FOXD3) and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) in the regulation of the receptor tyrosine-protein kinase ERBB3, and its cognate ligand neuregulin 1-beta (NR...

Proteins involved in genetic stability maintenance and safeguarding DNA replication act not only against cancer initiation but could also play a major role in sustaining cancer progression. Here, we report that the FANC pathway is highly expressed in metastatic melanoma harboring the oncogenic microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MiTF). We show that MiTF downregulation in melanoma ce...

PURPOSE Several reports have characterized the retinal degeneration observed in the Mitf(vit) mutant mouse. Despite these reports, the factor(s) that may cause or modulate the degeneration still are not well defined; however, it is known that the photoreceptors of Mitf(vit) mice die through an apoptotic mechanism. We reported previously that retinoid metabolism in the RPE of Mitf(vit)++ mice is...

B cell terminal differentiation involves development into an antibody-secreting plasma cell, reflecting the concerted activation of proplasma cell transcriptional regulators, such as Blimp-1, IRF-4, and Xbp-1. Here, we show that the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf) is highly expressed in naive B cells, where it antagonizes the process of terminal differentiation through the...

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy is widely used in the management of melanoma patients. Multiple markers are used to stain sentinel lymph node tissue including S100, HMB-45 and melan A with different success. We investigated, for the first time, the use of Microphthalmia transcription factor (Mitf) staining in a larger series of sentinel lymph nodes. Mitf is a transcription factor essenti...

The transcription factor Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a lineage-determination factor, which modulates melanocyte differentiation and pigmentation. MITF was recently shown to reside downstream of the canonical Wnt pathway during melanocyte differentiation from pluripotent neural crest cells in zebrafish as well as in mammalian melanocyte lineage cells. Although expres...

Many miRNAs play critical roles in modulating various biological processes of osteoclast differentiation and function. Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), a target of miR-340, served as pivotal transcription factor involved in osteoclast differentiation. However, the role of miR-340 and MITF during osteoclast differentiation has not yet been clearly established. Tartrate-resi...

Congenital nephron number varies widely in the human population and individuals with low nephron number are at risk of developing hypertension and chronic kidney disease. The development of the kidney occurs via an orchestrated morphogenetic process where metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud reciprocally interact to induce nephron formation. The genetic networks that modulate the extent of t...

Apoptosis and senescence are cellular failsafe programs that counteract excessive mitogenic signaling observed in cancer cells. Melanoma is known for its notorious resistance to apoptotic processes; therefore, senescence, which remains poorly understood in melanomas, can be viewed as a therapeutic alternative. Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), in which its M transcript is s...

PURPOSE Microphthalmia transcription factor (Mitf), which is important in melanocyte development and melanoma growth, was assessed using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay to investigate its expression as a marker for circulating melanoma cells in blood and determine the correlation with disease stage and survival in melanoma patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN In optimization s...