Role of the Hedgehog Pathway and CAXII in Controlling Melanoma Cell Migration and Invasion in Hypoxia

Simple Summary Malignant melanoma is the leading cause of death among skin cancer patients due to its tendency to metastasize. Hypoxia, which is a common feature of the tumor microenvironment, as well as different alterations at the molecular level, may affect melanoma aggressiveness. The aims and the objectives of this work were to investigate whether and how the Hedgehog pathway and CAXII may control malignant melanoma cell migration and invasiveness either in normoxic or hypoxic conditions. To this end we evaluated the migratory and invasive capabilities of SK-MEL-28 and A375 cell lines, where the hedgehog pathways and CAXII were inhibited by short interfering RNA. Our results indicate that SMO and GLI1 silencing caused the downregulation of CAXII expression. Furthermore, the Hedgehog pathway and CAXII inhibition, resulted in impaired melanoma cell migration and invasion either under normoxic or hypoxic conditions. The fact that CAXII and the Hedgehog pathway are relevant in melanoma cell invasion may be exploited to discover novel and promising therapeutical targets for melanoma clinical management. Background: Malignant melanoma is the leading cause of death among skin cancer patients due to its tendency to metastasize. Alterations at the molecular level are often evident, which is why melanoma biology has garnered increasing interest. The hedgehog (Hh) pathway, which is essential for embryonic development, is aberrantly re-activated in melanoma and may represent a promising therapeutic target. In addition, carbonic anhydrase XII (CAXII) represents a poor prognostic target for hypoxic tumors, such as melanoma, and is involved in cell migration. Thus, we decided to investigate whether and how the Hh pathway and CAXII may control melanoma cell migration and invasiveness. Methods: The migratory and invasive capabilities of SK-MEL-28 and A375 cell lines, either un-transfected or transiently transfected with Smoothened (SMO), GLI1, or CAXII siRNA, were studied under normoxic or hypoxic conditions. Results: For the first time, we showed that SMO and GLI1 silencing resulted in the downregulation of CAXII expression in both moderately and highly invasive melanoma cells under hypoxia. The Hh pathway as well as CAXII inhibition by siRNA resulted in impaired malignant melanoma migration and invasion. Conclusion: Our results suggest that CAXII and the Hh pathway are relevant in melanoma invasion and may be novel and promising therapeutical targets for melanoma clinical management.