Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) has recently been reported to promote malignant transformation and growth. Furthermore, HSF1 was identified as a potent proinvasion oncogene in human melanomas. However, the biological functions of HSF1 in human melanoma remain poorly understood. In this study, we found that silencing HSF1 suppressed proliferation, migration and invasiveness of human melanoma cells in vitro and HSF1 is required for melanoma invasion and metastasis, as well as tumorigenic potential in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrated that these decreased functions by HSF1 knockdown were restored by overexpression of wild-type HSF1 both in vitro and vivo. Our findings suggest that HSF1 could be a promising new therapeutic target for melanoma.This article is an invited review by the awardee of the Soujinkai Young Investigator Award, based on his original paper published in Cancer Letters in 2014.
human melanoma
heat shock factor 1 (hsf1)
proliferation
migration
invasion