Modulation of the transcriptional response to TNF-alpha in the human melanoma cell line MZ7 by MITF

We analyzed the transcriptional response of the human melanoma cell line MZ7 to TNF-alpha (24 hours) in a dose-dependent manner (TNF-alpha 10U/ml, 100U/ml, 1000U/ml) either transfected with control siRNA (siNT = non-targeting siRNA) or transfected with siRNAs (pool of 4 active and independent siRNAs) against the melanocytic transcription factor and lineage oncogene MITF. (Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor). The experiment was performed as biological duplicate. As MITF is critical for melanoma cell state control, we aimed to explore how MITF expression intersects with inflammation-induced plasticity pathways in melanoma. Total RNA was obtained from siRNA/TNF-treated MZ7 melanoma cell lines at various conditions and global gene expression profiling was done using the Illumina Human HT12 v4 platform.