Melanotransferrin (MELTF, MFI2, CD228) expression attenuates malignant melanoma progression in the A375-luc2 murine metastasis model and human patients

The cell-surface glycoprotein melanotransferrin (MELTF) is a member of the iron-binding transferrin superfamily expressed in human melanocytes and other cell types. Dysregulated MELTF-expression in malignant melanoma and other malignancies has been reported before but its specific role in melanomagenesis remains elusive. We performed CRISPR/Cas9-based MELTF deletion in human A375-luc2 malignant melanoma cells followed by transcriptomic analysis in order to explore the mechanistic role of MELTF in malignant melanoma. Differential expression between isogenic human malignant melanoma A375-BRAFV600E/NRASQ61 wildtype (n=3), A375-BRAFV600E/NRASQ61 MELTF knockout (n=3, clone A7), and A375-BRAFV600E/NRASQ61 MELTF knockout (n=3, clone A18) cell lines was assessed using the nCounter PanCancer Progression Panel code set. Total RNA analyzed for gene expression of 770 transcripts by nCounter PanCancer Progression panel