The low affinity neurotrophin receptor CD271 regulates phenotype switching in melanoma

Restivo, Gaetana; Diener, Johanna; Cheng, Phil F; Kiowski, Gregor; Bonalli, Mario; Biedermann, Thomas; Reichmann, Ernst; Levesque, Mitchell P; Dummer, Reinhard; Sommer, Lukas

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01573-6

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Restivo, G., Diener, J., Cheng, P. F., Kiowski, G., Bonalli, M., Biedermann, T., Reichmann, E., Levesque, M. P., Dummer, R., & Sommer, L. (2017). The low affinity neurotrophin receptor CD271 regulates phenotype switching in melanoma. Nature Communications, 8(1), 1988. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01573-6

Abstract

Cutaneous melanoma represents the most fatal skin cancer due to its high metastatic capacity. According to the "phenotype switching" model, the aggressive nature of melanoma cells results from their intrinsic potential to dynamically switch from a high-proliferative/low-invasive to a low-proliferative/high-invasive state. Here we identify the low affinity neurotrophin receptor CD271 as a key effector of phenotype switching in melanoma. CD271 plays a dual role in this process by decreasing proliferation, while simultaneously promoting