The miRNA machinery in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma, cutaneous malignant melanoma metastases and benign melanocytic nevi

Although several studies have shown a dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in cutaneous melanoma, there has been little research on the miRNA machinery itself. In this study, we investigated the mRNA expression profiles of different miRNA machinery components in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma (PCMM), cutaneous malignant melanoma metastases (CMMM) and benign melanocytic nevi (BMN). Patients with PCMM (n = 7), CMMM (n = 6) and BMN (n = 7) were included in the study. Punch biopsies were harvested from the centers of tumors (lesional) and from BMN (control). In contrast to previous reports exploring specific clusters of miRNAs in PCMM, the present study investigates mRNA expression levels of Dicer, Drosha, Exp5, DGCR8 and the RISC components PACT, argonaute-1, argonaute-2, TARBP1, TARBP2, MTDH and SND1, which were detected by TaqMan real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Argonaute-1, TARBP2 and SND1 expression levels were significantly higher in BMN compared to PCMM (p < 0.05). TARBP2 expression levels were significantly higher in CMMM compared to PCMM (p < 0.05). SND1 expression levels were significantly higher in CMMM compared to PCMM and BMN (p < 0.05). Dicer, Drosha, DGCR8, Exp5, argonaute-2, PACT, TARBP1 and MTDH expression levels showed no significant differences within groups (p > 0.05). The results of this study show that the miRNA machinery components argonaute-1, TARBP2 and SND1 are dysregulated in PCMM and CMMM compared to BMN and may play a role in the process of malignant transformation.