Loss of the eukaryotic initiation factor 3f in melanoma

Aberrant regulation of the translation initiation is known to contribute to tumorigenesis. elF3 plays an important role in translation initiation. elF3f is the p47 subunit of the elF3 complex whose function in cancer is not clear. Initial studies from our group indicated that elF3f expression is decreased in melanoma. Overexpression of elF3f inhibits translation and induces apoptosis in melanoma cells. The elF3f gene is located at chromosome region 11p15.4. Loss of 11p15.4 is a common event in many tumors including melanoma. In order to investigate the molecular mechanism of the decreased expression of elF3f in melanoma, we performed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis in 24 melanoma specimens using three microsatellite markers encompassing the elF3f gene. We showed that the prevalence of LOH ranged from 75% to 92% in melanoma. We also performed elF3f gene copy number analysis using quantitative real-time PCR to further confirm the specific allelic loss of the elF3f gene in melanoma. We demonstrated a statistically significant decrease of the elF3f gene copy number in melanoma compared with normal tissues with a tumor/normal ratio of 0.52. To further elucidate the somatic genetic alterations, we carried out mutation analysis covering the entire coding region and 5′UTR of the elF3f gene in melanoma tissues and cell lines. Despite some polymorphisms, we did not find any mutations. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated that elF3f protein expression is decreased in melanoma compared to benign nevi. These data provide new insight into the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of elF3f during melanoma tumorigenesis.