Guanine nucleotide exchange factor H1 can be a new biomarker of melanoma

Abstract

Jie Shi, Bingyu Guo, Yu Zhang, Qiang Hui, Peng Chang, Kai Tao Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery, The General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Guanine nucleotide exchange factor H1 (GEF-H1), which couples microtubule dynamics to RhoA activation, is a microtubule-regulated exchange factor. Studies have shown that GEF-H1 can be involved in various cancer pathways; however, the clinical significance of GEF-H1 expression and functions in melanoma has not been established. In this study, we investigated the relationship between clinical outcomes and GEF-H1 functions in melanoma. A  total of 60 cases of different grades of melanoma samples were used to detect the expression of GEF-H1. Results showed that both messenger RNA and protein levels of GEF-H1 were significantly higher in high-grade melanomas. Furthermore, patients with high GEF-H1 expression had a shorter overall survival (22 months) than patients with low level of GEF-H1 expression (33.38 months).We also found that GEF-H1 can promote the proliferation and metastasis of melanoma cells. In summary, these results suggested that GEF-H1 may be a valuable biomarker for assessing the degree and prognosis of melanoma following surgery. Keywords: GEF-H1, melanoma, biomarker, proliferation, metastasis

Keywords

• GEF-H1
• melanoma cancer
• biomarker
• proliferation
• metastasis