Systems Biology of Sunlight-induced Melanoma: An Analysis of the Response to DNA Damage

摘要

Melanoma is a cancer of melanocytes that typically begins in the skin and may be caused by sunlight-induced DNA damage. Harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV) in sunlight penetrates skin and generates DNA damage (photoproducts) that interfere with DNA replication in proliferating cells. The network of interactions in the system of response to DNA damage may form a gestalt in which the performance of the system exceeds the sum of its parts. Mutations that inactivate parts of the system and perturb its performance destabilise the genome and produce a mutator phenotype that sensitises melanocytes to further sunlight-induced genetic damage. Recent analyses of melanoma systems biology suggest that alterations in the system of response to DNA damage may enhance melanoma development and malignant progression.