PLEKHA5 regulates tumor growth in metastatic melanoma

Background PLEKHA5 has previously been identified as a novel molecule implicated in melanoma brain metastasis, a disease that continues to portend a poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to further investigate the functional role of PLEKHA5 in disseminated melanoma. Methods The impact of PLEKHA5 on proliferation and tumor growth was examined in vitro and in melanoma xenograft models, including brain‐tropic melanomas (melanomas tending to disseminate to the brain). In vitro loss‐ and gain‐of‐function studies were used to explore the underlying mechanisms of PLEKHA5‐mediated tumor growth and the crosstalk between PLEKHA5 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR or MAPK/ERK signaling. The clinical relevance of PLEKHA5 dysregulation was further investigated in a cohort of matched cranial and extracranial melanoma metastases. Results PLEKHA5 stable knockdown negatively regulated cell proliferation by inhibiting the G1‐to‐S cell cycle transition, which coincided with upregulation of the cell cycle regulator PDCD4. Conversely, ectopic PLEKHA5 expression exhibited the inverse effect. PLEKHA5 knockdown significantly inhibited tumor growth, whereas its overexpression upregulated the growth of tumors, which was induced by cranial and subcutaneous inoculation of cells in nude mice. PLEKHA5 modulation affected PDCD4 protein stability and was coupled with changes in PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway signaling. High PDCD4 expression in cerebral specimens was associated with better overall survival. Conclusions This study further supports the role of PLEKHA5 as a regulator of melanoma growth at distant sites, including the brain. Furthermore, the results highlight the significance of PDCD4 dysregulation in disseminated melanoma and implicate PDCD4 as a possible causal link between PLEKHA5 and cell proliferation and growth. PLEKHA5, a gene involved in brain development, has previously been found to be aberrantly expressed in melanomas with a high propensity for brain metastasis. Here PLEKHA5 is shown to stimulate proliferation and tumor growth, possibly through the regulation of a cell cycle inhibitor, PDCD4, via crosstalk with PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways, a novel regulatory mechanism that could be exploited to develop new therapeutic strategies for this disease.