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Macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 may promote the development of malignant melanoma

Macrophage inhibitory cytokine (MIC)-1, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, was recently implicated in promoting the development of more aggressive melanoma tumors in a study conducted at the Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia. Significantly higher levels of relative MIC-1 expression (> 3-fold) were detected in 66% of human melanoma cell lines tested (n= 53) compared with normal melanocytes. Differences in MIC-1 expression were detected between primary and metastatic melanoma biopsies with only low MIC-1 levels detectable in 15 out of 22 primary melanoma samples compared to strong MIC-1 expression observed in 100% of metastatic melanoma samples. A significant decrease in tumorigenicity was accomplished by knockdown of MIC-1 expression ...