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A Robust Discovery Platform for the Identification of Novel Mediators of Melanoma Metastasis
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ROR2, a driver of "phenotype switching" in melanoma?

Pablo Lopez-Bergami1,2

  • 1Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Básicos, Aplicados y Desarrollo (CEBBAD), Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775, 6th Floor, Lab 602, 1405, Buenos Aires, Argentina. lopezbergami.pablo@maimonides.edu.

Cancer Cell International
|September 20, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2) has contradictory roles in melanoma, impairing proliferation but promoting invasion and drug resistance. Inhibiting ROR2 may offer a therapeutic strategy to target aggressive melanoma phenotypes.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2) is a Wnt5a receptor implicated in cancer.
  • ROR2 exhibits dual roles in cancer, either suppressing or promoting tumor progression.
  • ROR2's function varies across tumor types, impacting processes like proliferation and invasion differently.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the multifaceted and seemingly contradictory roles of ROR2 in melanoma.
  • To explore ROR2's function as a driver of "phenotype switching" in melanoma.
  • To assess the therapeutic potential of targeting ROR2 in melanoma.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of ROR2's impact on melanoma cell proliferation.
  • Evaluation of ROR2's role in melanoma cell migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
  • Assessment of ROR2's influence on chemoresistance in melanoma models.

Main Results:

  • ROR2 impairs melanoma cell proliferation.
  • ROR2 promotes melanoma cell migration, EMT, and chemoresistance.
  • ROR2 acts as a key regulator of phenotype switching, shifting cells towards proliferative or invasive states.

Conclusions:

  • ROR2 plays complex, dual roles in melanoma, promoting aggressive phenotypes.
  • ROR2 is a significant driver of phenotype switching in melanoma.
  • Targeting ROR2 presents a potential therapeutic strategy for invasive and drug-resistant melanoma.
Keywords:
Cell plasticityEpithelial to mesenchymal transitionMelanomaPhenotype switchingROR2

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