Oral communication, CS4 / C13

Official XXIst International Pigment Cell Conference website - 21-24 Sept 2011, Bordeaux - France | updated: September 04 2011

Mouse models for Raf signaling in melanocyte and melanoma development

The RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway plays a key role in melanoma, with BRAF and NRAS mutations in about 50% and 15% of cases, respectively. While the discovery of compounds specifically targeting mutated V600EBRAF raises new hopes, such compounds cannot be used for the treatment of half of melanoma patients, including those mutated on NRAS. The contribution of BRAF and its closely related kinase CRAF downstream of RAS during tumoral progression appears complex. We developed mouse models in which single or compound ablation of BRAF and CRAF is achieved upon conditional Cre expression in the melanocyte lineage. These models allow us investigating the role of both kinases during normal development of the melanocyte lineage. In addition we are currently using these models to assess the role of RAF kinases in NRAS-induced melanoma at each step of tumoral progression, from initiation (benign nevi formation) to metastasis.

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