Identification of the metastasis potential and its associated genes in melanoma multinucleated giant cells using the PHA-ECM830 fusion method

Malignant melanoma causes skin cancer with high rates of mortality. Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) are frequently observed in tumor pathological analysis, especially in metastasized sites, and are related to poor prognosis. However, the role of MGCs in melanoma development and metastasis is currently unknown. In the present study, we obtained melanoma MGCs (M-MGCs) in vitro using the modified phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-ECM830 electronic fusion method (fusion efficiency was significantly enhanced by adding PHA to agglutinate cells before electronic fusion). We found that M-MGCs showed decreased proliferation potential but increased pulmonary metastasis ability relative to the parental B16-F10 cells. Microarray and bioinformatics analysis showed that beta-tubulin gene group was significantly upregulated in M-MGCs. A member of this gene group, TUBB2B, exhibited significantly enhanced expression, indicating that it may play an important role in melanoma metastasis. Our results provide novel insights into the properties of melanoma and they could contribute towards the design of new strategies for rapid diagnosis and treatment of this cancer.