Casein kinase 1α has a non-redundant and dominant role within the CK1 family in melanoma progression

BACKGROUND: We previously identified CK1α as a novel tumor suppressor in melanoma and reported that the loss of CK1α leads to increased proliferation and invasive growth of melanoma cells by strong activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. METHODS: In this study we analyzed expression and the functional effects of the dominantly expressed CK1- isoforms α, δ and ε in melanoma cells by quantitative real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. We down-regulated CK1 kinase activity with isoform specific siRNAs and small molecule inhibitors. Vice versa we overexpressed the CK1 isoforms α, δ and ε using viral vectors and tested the biological effects on melanoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion. RESULTS: We show that protein expression of all three CK1-isoforms is downregulated in metastatic melanoma cells compared to benign melanocytic cells. Furthermore, the CK1δ and ε isoforms are able to negatively regulate expression of each other, whereas CK1α expression is independently regulated in melanoma cells. Inhibition of the expression and activity of CK1δ or CK1ε by specific inhibitors or siRNAs had no significant effect on the growth and survival of metastatic melanoma cells. Moreover, the over-expression of CK1δ or CK1ε in melanoma cells failed to induce cell death and cell cycle arrest although p53 signaling was activated. This is in contrast to the effects of CK1α where up-regulated expression induces cell death and apoptosis in metastatic melanoma cells. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that CK1α has a dominant and non-redundant function in melanoma cells and that the CK1δ and ε isoforms are not substantially involved in melanoma progression. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2643-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.