Lecturer Dr. Carmit Levy

Contact tamar.cohen@weizmann.ac.il

Abstract Melanoma originates in the epidermis and becomes metastatic after invasion into the dermis. This radial to vertical growth transition, is crucial for melanoma metastatic stage, yet the triggers of this transition remain elusive. We demonstrated that the microenvironment drives melanoma metastasis independently of mutation acquisition. By examining changes in microenvironment that occur during melanoma radial growth, we found that direct contact of melanoma cells with the remote epidermal layer triggers vertical invasion via Notch signaling activation. Moreover, we show that melanoma cells directly affect the formation of the dermal tumor niche by microRNA trafficking before invasion.

Details Tel Aviv University