Gene expression in IGR37 melanoma cells grown in DMEM or after transfer to MEM

The primary cause of cancer deaths is metastasis. While studies have identified multiple signals that drive invasiveness, the first step in metastatic colonization, the reason for cells to move away from the primary tumor is less well understood. The dataset presented here examines the effect of different culture conditions on gene expression by comparing expression of a melanoma cell line in nutrient rich DMEM to MEM. The results were used to generate a gene expression signature that correlates in human melanomas to dedifferentiation, invasiveness and drug resistance. Total RNA was extracted in triplicate from IGR37 cells (4 samples) grown in DMEM or transferred to MEM for different times.