Alpha-2-Macroglobulin Is a Novel Anticancer Agent

Abstract

Introduction – Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer, with an increasing occurrence. Despite the recent important improvements due to novel immunotherapy approaches, when late diagnosed, melanoma prognosis is poor due to the metastatic progression and drug-resistance onset. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify additional therapeutic targets. Melanoma invasive behavior is related to the activity of metalloproteases, able to degrade extracellular matrix leading to tumor dissemination. A recent study suggested that the most potent proteases inhibitor alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2MG) from plasma of hibernating fishes exerts potent anti-proliferative effects. Our previous studies showed significant reduction of A2MG in sera from mice/human melanoma models. Methods – Gene and protein expression studies have been performed by using platforms and databases available online containing expression data form thousands of patients and healthy controls. Results – We carried out an extensive bioinformatics analysis to evaluate the A2MG gene/protein expression on a large cohort of patients affected by many different cancer types, compared to healthy control subjects, and we found highly significant difference of A2MG expression in 20 out of 31 cancers types (including melanoma) compared to healthy controls. Similar results were also confirmed at proteomic level using another platform available online. Further, we found that higher A2MG expression is significantly related to overall survival in different cancers including melanoma. Conclusion – Our results strongly suggest A2MG as a novel molecular target in melanoma therapy, as well as in other cancer types.