MITF deficiency accelerates GNAQ-driven uveal melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) and uveal melanoma (UM) both originate from the melanocytic lineage but are primarily driven by distinct oncogenic drivers, BRAF/NRAS or GNAQ/GNA11 respectively. The melanocytic master transcriptional regulator, MITF, is essential for both CM development and maintenance, but its role in UM is largely unexplored. Here, we use zebrafish models to dissect the key UM oncogenic signaling events, and establish the role of MITF in UM tumors. Remarkably, mitfa deficiency was profoundly UM promoting, dramatically accelerating the onset and progression of tumors induced by Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L);tp53M214K/M214K. To further explore the role of MITF in GNAQ-driven tumorigenesis, we performed phospho-proteomics and total proteomics on 5 zebrafish GNAQ Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L);tp53M214K/M214K tumors and 5 zebrafish GNAQ Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L);tp53M214K/M214K;mitfa-/- tumors.