Although melanomas with mutant v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) can now be effectively targeted, there is no molecular target for most melanomas expressing wildtype BRAF. Here, we show that the activation of Pleckstrin homology domain-interacting protein (PHIP), promotes melanoma metastasis, can be used to classify a subset of primary melanomas, and is a prognostic biomarker for melanoma. Systemic, plasmidbased shRNA targeting of Phip inhibited the metastatic progression of melanoma, whereas stable suppression of Phip in melanoma cell lines suppressed metastatic potential and prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice. The human PHIP gene resides on 6q14.1, and although 6q loss has been observed in melanoma, the PHIP locus was preserved in melanoma cell lines and patient samples, and its overexpression was an independent adverse predictor of survival in melanoma patients. In addition, a high proportion of PHIP-overexpressing melanomas harbored increased PHIP copy number. PHIP-overexpressing melanomas include tumors with wild-type BRAF, neuroblastoma RAS viral (v-ras) oncogene homolog, and phosphatase and tensin homolog, demonstrating PHIP activation in triple-negative melanoma. These results describe previously unreported roles for PHIP in predicting and promoting melanoma metastasis, and in the molecular classification of melanoma.T he successful development of targeted therapy for melanomas harboring BRAF mutations has garnered significant attention, given the promising results of small molecule inhibitors of mutant BRAF (1). However, the molecular basis underlying the metastasis of the ≈50% of all human melanomas that lack a BRAF mutation, and specific targets for the therapy of these melanomas, is unclear. As a result, "triple-negative melanoma" patients, whose tumors harbor wild-type v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF), neuroblastoma RAS viral (vras) oncogene homolog (NRAS), and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) (the most common mutations observed in melanoma), are not candidates for most targeted therapies developed to date.The type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R) signaling pathway has been recognized to play an increasingly important role in tumorigenesis (2, 3). Binding of IGF1 or IGF2 to IGF1R results in phosphorylation of tyrosine and carboxyl-terminal serine residues that form binding sites for the insulin-receptor substrate (IRS) docking proteins. IRS activation results in PI3K recruitment and AKT activation (4). Efficient docking of IRS proteins is mediated via their pleckstrin homology domain. Pleckstrin homology domain-interacting protein (PHIP), initially identified through interactions with the pleckstrin homology domain of IRS proteins, has been shown to mediate transcriptional responses in pancreatic islet cells (5), and is important for postnatal growth (6). Previously, we identified PHIP as the gene most highly overexpressed in metastatic melanomas, compared with primary tumors by cDNA microarray analysis (7). Although PHIP plays a r...