SOX10 Knockdown Inhibits Melanoma Cell Proliferation via Notch Signaling Pathway

PURPOSE: Melanoma is a serious and malignant disease worldwide. Seeking diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets is urgent for melanoma treatment. SOX10, a member of the SoxE family of genes, is a transcription factor which can regulate the transcription of a wide variety of genes in multiple cellular processes. METHODS: The mRNA level and protein expression of SOX10 is confirmed by bioinformatic analysis and IHC staining. MTT, clone formation and EdU analysis showed that SOX10 knockdown (KD) could significantly inhibit melanoma cell proliferation. FACS analysis showed that SOX10 KD could markedly enhance the level of cell apoptosis. The downstream target signaling pathway is predicted by RNA-seq based on the public GEO database. The activation of Notch signaling mediated by SOX10 is tested by qPCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Ectopic upregulation of SOX10 was found in melanoma patient tissues compared to normal nevus tissues in mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, both mRNA and protein level of SOX10 were negatively correlated with melanoma patient’s prognosis. SOX10 knockdown could obviously suppress the proliferation ability of melanoma cells by inactivating Notch signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that SOX10 is an oncogene and activate Notch signaling pathway, which suggests the potential treatment for melanoma patients by target SOX10/Notch axis.