Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a member of the caveolin family, regulates caveolae-associated signaling proteins, which are involved in many biological processes, including cancer development. Cav-1 was found to exert a complex and ambiguous role as oncogene or tumor suppressor depending on the cellular microenvironment.Here we investigated Cav-1 expression and function in a panel of melanomas, finding its expression in all the cell lines. The exception was the primary vertical melanoma cell line, WM983A, characterized by the lack of Cav-1, and then utilized as a recipient for Cav-1 gene transduction to address a series of functional studies.The alleged yet controversial role of phospho (Ph)-Cav-1 on cell regulation was also tested by transducing the nonphosphorylatable Cav-1Y14A mutant. Wild-type Cav-1, but not mutated Cav-1Y14A, increased tumorigenicity as indicated by enhanced proliferation, migration, invasion and capacity of forming foci in semisolid medium. Accordingly, Cav-1 silencing inhibited melanoma cell growth reducing some of the typical traits of malignancy. Finally, we detected a secreted fraction of Cav-1 associated with cell released microvesicular particles able to stimulate in vitro anchorage independence, migration and invasion in a paracrine/ autocrine fashion and, more important, competent to convey metastatic asset from the donor melanoma to the less aggressive recipient cell line. A direct correlation between Cav-1 levels, the amount of microvesicles released in the culture medium and MMP-9 expression was also observed. '
UICCKey words: melanoma; caveolin-1; microvesicles; tumorigenicity Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a 22-24 kDa protein originally identified as a structural component of caveolae, specialized invaginations of the plasma membrane. These caveolae represent compartments in which key signaling transduction molecules are concentrated to provide an efficient system for cellular cross talk. Through its ''scaffold domain'' Cav-1 is able to self-interact and to regulate the activity of other caveolae-associated signaling proteins. 1 When Cav-1 was evaluated for its expression in human cancer cell lines and tumor samples of different origin, the outcome was ambiguous. The observed expression profiles indicated that the role of Cav-1 varied according to tumor types. 2,3 Although its growth inhibitory action has been clearly demonstrated in vivo in Cav-12/2 mice, 4 more recent data supported the direct correlation between Cav-1 expression level and tumor aggressiveness 5 and, in some cases, with a poorer clinical outcome. 6 Hence Cav-1 apparently possesses mutually exclusive functions, as tumor suppressor or tumor-promoting gene, depending on tumor type/stage, cell context and the deriving availability of Cav-1 interacting partners. A specific example indicating the importance of Cav-1 partnership involves the formation of a Cav-1/E-cadherin (E-cad) complex at the plasma membrane. In primary cancer cells, where E-cad is generally expressed, Cav-1 exerts its antiproliferative and proapoptotic propertie...