YI-SHUAN SHEENYI-HUA LIAOHSIEN-CHING CHIUSHIOU-HWA JEECHIA-YU CHUHsieh M.-C.Chen P.-C.Cha S.-T.YUNG-MING JENGChang C.-C.Jee S.-H.Kuo M.-L.CHIA-YING CHU2019-07-112019-07-112015-040022-202Xhttps://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/413476IGF II mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP-3) has been reported to be a marker of melanoma progression. However, the mechanisms by which it impacts melanoma are incompletely understood. In this study, we investigate the clinical significance of IMP-3 in melanoma progression and also its underlying mechanisms. We found that IMP-3 expression was much higher in advanced-stage/metastatic melanomas and that it was associated with a poor prognosis (P=0.001). Univariate analysis showed that IMP-3 expression was associated with stage III/IV melanomas (odds ratio=5.40, P=0.031) and the acral lentiginous subtype (odds ratio=3.93, P=0.0034). MeWo cells with overexpression of IMP-3 showed enhanced proliferation and migration and significantly increased tumorigenesis and metastatic ability in nude mice. We further demonstrated that IMP-3 could bind and enhance the stability of the mRNA of high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2). It was also confirmed that IMP-3 had an important role in melanoma invasion and metastasis through regulating HMGA2 mRNA expression. IMP-3 expression was positively correlated with HMGA2 expression in melanoma cells and also in melanoma tissues. Our results show that IMP-3 expression is a strong prognostic factor for melanoma, especially acral lentiginous melanoma.en[SDGs]SDG3high mobility group A2 protein; messenger RNA; tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3; high mobility group A2 protein; IMP3 protein, human; RNA binding protein; tumor marker; acral lentiginous melanoma; aged; animal cell; animal tissue; Article; cancer growth; cancer patient; cancer prognosis; cell invasion; cell migration; cell proliferation; controlled study; correlational study; female; follow up; gene overexpression; human; investigative procedures; major clinical study; male; melanoma; melanoma cell; metastatic melanoma; mouse; nonhuman; priority journal; protein expression; cell motion; disease course; DNA microarray; gene expression regulation; melanoma; metabolism; metastasis; prognosis; risk; skin tumor; tumor cell line; tumor invasion; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement; Disease Progression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; HMGA2 Protein; Humans; Melanoma; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Metastasis; Odds Ratio; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Prognosis; RNA-Binding Proteins; Skin Neoplasms; Tumor Markers, Biologicaljournal articlehttps://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/8492545512110.1038/jid.2014.480253803512-s2.0-84925455121WOS:000351188600022https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84925455121