FBXO38 regulates ocular melanoma proliferation through the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway

Objective·To investigate the effect of F-box only protein 38 (FBXO38) on the ocular melanoma proliferation and the potential regulatory pathway.Methods·Human skin cutaneous melanoma A375 and human uveal melanoma OMM2.3 cell lines with FBXO38 knockdown and overexpression were constructed by FBXO38 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and FBXO38 overexpression plasmids respectively. Knockdown and overexpression efficiency of FBXO38 at transcription and protein levels were verified by using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. The effects of FBXO38 on melanoma cell proliferation were detected through clonal formation assay, BrdU immunofluorescence staining and CCK8 cell proliferation assay. By using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, differentially expressed genes were analyzed in the high and low expression groups of FBXO38. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment was performed to reveal the signaling pathways associated with FBXO38. CCK8 cell proliferation assay was u