BRAF mutations are present in 30-50% of cases of cutaneous melanoma, and treatment with selective BRAF and MEK inhibitors has been introduced. However, the development of resistance to these drugs often occurs. Chemo-resistant melanoma cells show increased expression of CD271, a stem cell marker that features increased migration. Concordantly, resistance to the selective inhibitor of oncogenic BRAFV600E/K, vemurafenib, is mediated by the increased expression of CD271. It has recently been shown that the BRAF pathway leads to an overexpression of the NADPH oxidase Nox4, which produces reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we examined in vitro how Nox-derived ROS in BRAF-mutated melanoma cells regulates their drug sensitivity and metastatic potential. We demonstrated that DPI, a Nox inhibitor, reduced the resistance of a melanoma cell line (SK-MEL-28) and a primary culture derived from a BRAFV600E-mutated biopsy to vemurafenib. DPI treatment affected the expression of CD271 and the ERK and Akt signaling pathways, leading to a drop in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which undoubtedly promotes an invasive phenotype in melanoma. More importantly, the scratch test demonstrated the efficacy of the Nox inhibitor (DPI) in blocking migration, supporting its use to counteract drug resistance and thus cell invasion and metastasis in BRAF-mutated melanoma.
Keywords: CD271; NADPH oxidase; chemo-resistance; epithelial–mesenchymal transition; melanoma.