What does not kill you makes you stronger: surviving anti-cancer therapies by cytoskeletal remodeling and Myosin II reactivation

Abstract

Myosin II and its regulator Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK) are essential for cell invasion and metastatic dissemination. Our recent findings show that this molecular machinery is also involved in drug resistance in melanoma by playing a dual role: protection of tumor cells from reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage (intrinsic), and co-option of myeloid and lymphoid populations to establish immunosuppression (extrinsic).

Keywords

• myosin ii
• cytoskeletal remodeling
• melanoma therapy resistance
• transcriptional rewiring
• immunotherapy