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Microphthalamia-associated transcription factor: a critical regulator of pigment cell development and survival

Oncogene volume 22, pages 3035–3041 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The microphthalamia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is an integral transcriptional regulator in melanocyte, the lineage from which melanoma cells originate. This basic-helix–loop–helix-leucine-zipper (bHLHzip) protein is critical for melanocyte cell-fate choice during commitment from pluripotent precursor cells in the neural crest. Its role in differentiation pathways has been highlighted by its potent transcriptional and lineage-specific regulation of the three major pigment enzymes: tyrosinase, Tyrp1, and Dct as well as other pigmentation factors. However, the cellular functions of MITF seem to be wider than differentiation and cell-fate pathways alone, since melanocytes and melanoma cells appear to require an expression of this factor. Here, we discuss the transcriptional networks in which MITF is thought to reside and describe signaling pathways in the cell which impinge on MITF. Accumulating evidence supports the notion that MITF is involved in survival pathways during normal development as well as during neoplastic growth of melanoma.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr Elizabeth Patton and Laura Poling for reviewing this manuscript and all members of the laboratory for stimulating and critical discussions. HRW is a Swedish Wenner-Gren Foundation post-doctoral fellow and DEF is the Jan and Charles Nirenberg fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This work is supported by NIH Grant AR43369 to DEF.

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  1. Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, MA, USA

    Hans R Widlund & David E Fisher

  2. Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, MA, USA

    David E Fisher

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Correspondence to David E Fisher.

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Widlund, H., Fisher, D. Microphthalamia-associated transcription factor: a critical regulator of pigment cell development and survival. Oncogene 22, 3035–3041 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206443

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