Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Fields, Gregg B.

Abstract

Melanoma starts on the surface of the skin where it is easily seen. It is curable when detected early, but can be fatal if allowed to progress and spread. Melanoma can spread downwards through the skin, ultimately reaching the blood and lymphatic vessels, and metastasize. Thus, one goal is to detect melanoma early before it metastasizes. A high throughput proteomics approach has been applied to better understand the processes that underlie tumor formation and progression. Three studies were pursued: I) proteome comparison of the matched primary WM-115 and metastatic WM-266-4 melanoma cell lines; II) proteome comparison between the matched melanoma Hs 895.T and fibroblast Hs 895Sk cell lines; and III) comprehensive proteome cataloging of two metastatic melanoma cell lines Hs 895.T and SK-MEL-2. From these studies we identified proteins that are involved in cellular functions such as metabolism, signal transduction, and DNA binding, as well as structural and heat shock proteins. We hypothesized about a possible oxidative stress pathway involved in melanoma progression, initiated the creation of a melanoma proteome database, and also identified some proteins not previously studied in melanoma (such as cyclophilin A, ADP-ribosylation factor-1, 14-3-3 zeta ATP syntase, Rho GTPase, Plastin T, galectin 1 and 3, annex in II, enolase 1, cofilin, RhoGDI, Rap 1, G6PG, GAPDH, TKT, HK, and nuclear chloride channel protein). These results mark a step forward in the development of a metstatic melanoma protein database, the understanding of the chemical pathways that are involved in metastatic melanoma development, and identification of possible new targets for inhibitor development.

Extent

172 p.

Comments

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.

Identifier

FA00000846

Format

pdf

Download

Share

COinS