Expression profiling reveals novel pathways in the transformation of melanocytes to melanomas.

Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays were used to assess global differential gene expression comparing normal human melanocytes with six independent melanoma cell strains from advanced lesions. The data, validated at the protein level for selected genes, confirmed the overexpression in melanoma cells relative to normal melanocytes of several genes in the growth factor/receptor family that confer growth advantage and metastasis. In addition, novel pathways and patterns of associated expression in melanoma cells not reported before emerged. Keywords: class comparison study (melanoma vs melanocyte) Six melanoma cultures and two melanocyte cultures. The melanoma cultures are considered, for the purposes of this investigation, replicates from the point of view that they are all melanomas.