Matrin-3 plays an important role in cell cycle and apoptosis for survival in malignant melanoma

•Matrin-3 was highly expressed in malignant melanoma (MM).•Matrin-3 knockdown inhibited the proliferation of melanoma cells.•Matrin-3 knockdown led to an accumulation of cells in the G1 phase.•Matrin-3 knockdown led to an increase in apoptotic cell number.•Matrin-3 could be a new therapeutic target for the treatment of MM. A previous study revealed that matrin-3 is an essential component in maintaining fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2)-mediated undifferentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) using a proteomics approach. Malignant melanoma (MM) arises from melanocytes that originate from neural crest stem cells during development. Additionally, it has been reported that the expression of FGF2 is positively correlated with the progression of MM. We expected that matrin-3, as a downstream component of FGF2, might be associated with the aggressiveness or differentiation of MM. Matrin-3 expression was measured in human melanoma patient tissues and human MM cell lines. We analyzed the effect of matrin-3 siRNA on the proliferation of human MM cell lines and focused on cell cycle progression and apoptosis. We carried out in vivo xenograft tumor experiments by implanting A375 cells transfected with matrin-3 shRNA. Matrin-3 was highly expressed in MM, and matrin-3 knockdown inhibited the proliferation of melanoma cellsin vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, we found that matrin-3 knockdown led to an accumulation of cells in the G1 phase and an increase in apoptotic cell number. Our results suggest that matrin-3 could be a new therapeutic target for the treatment of MM.