Expression of proteins involved in epigenetic regulation in human cutaneous melanoma and peritumoral skin

Epigenetic processes play a critical role in melanoma development. However, little is known about proteins responsible for epigenetic transformations in melanoma cells. The processes in the peritumoral skin within the excision margin are almost unstudied. We studied the changes in expression of 112 proteins involved in epigenetic regulation of gene expression in the human cutaneous melanoma and its peritumoral zone using The Proteomic Antibody Microarrays (GRAA2, Sigma-Aldrich). Dimethylated histone H3 at lysines 4 and 9 as well as proteins involved in the regulation of transcription (histone deacetylases HDAC-1 and HDAC-11, DNA methyl-binding protein Kaiso), cell cycle control (protein kinases Aurora-D' and PKR, chromosome protein CENP-E, and phosphorylated and acetylated histone H3), DNA repair (phosphorylated histone H2AX), and nuclear protein import (importins alpha 3 and alpha 5/7) were over-expressed in the melanoma tissue as compared with normal skin. At the same time, HDAC-10 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen PCNA were downregulated. In the peritumoral skin, at the excision margin (1-2 cm from the melanoma edge), we observed similar changes in expression of these proteins and, additionally, over-expression of arginine methyltransferases PRMT5 and NAD-dependent histone deacetylase SIR2. Histone methyltransferase G9a and metastasis-associated protein 2 were downregulated. Therefore, epigenetic regulation that requires histone modifications and expression of some regulatory proteins is of importance for melanoma development and propagation. The observed changes in the peritumoral skin may indicate the epigenetic pre-tuning in this zone possibly involved in malignant transformation. These results can be potentially useful for melanoma diagnostics and targeted therapy.