Sir,
We would like to congratulate Völler et al (2013) on their recent study showing an unchanged mRNA AGO2 expression in melanoma and a strong reduction of AGO2 expression on protein level. This goes along with the findings in our study on the miRNA processing machinery performed in melanoma, which likewise has previously shown an unchanged mRNA AGO2 expression level in melanoma (Sand et al, 2012c). Interestingly, in contrast to melanoma skin cancer, mRNA AGO2 expression levels in epithelial skin cancer (both cutaneous squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma) were significantly higher (P<0.05) compared with healthy controls (Sand et al, 2010, 2012a, 2012b). Although we do agree with the authors that a deregulation of microRNA (miRNA) was observed in several types of cancer and particularly in skin cancer, with reference to our previous studies we do not agree that changes in the miRNA processing enzymes have not been analysed until today as stated in their abstract (Sand et al, 2009, 2011, 2012d, 2012e, 2013; 2014; Sand and Skrygan, 2014).
References
Sand M (2014) The pathway of miRNA maturation. Methods Mol Biol 1095: 3–10.
Sand M, Gambichler T, Sand D, Altmeyer P, Stuecker M, Bechara FG (2011) Immunohistochemical expression patterns of the microRNA-processing enzyme Dicer in cutaneous malignant melanomas, benign melanocytic nevi and dysplastic melanocytic nevi. Eur J Dermatol 21 (1): 18–21.
Sand M, Gambichler T, Sand D, Skrygan M, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2009) MicroRNAs and the skin: tiny players in the body's largest organ. J Dermatol Sci 53 (3): 169–175.
Sand M, Gambichler T, Skrygan M, Sand D, Scola N, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2010) Expression levels of the microRNA processing enzymes Drosha and dicer in epithelial skin cancer. Cancer Invest 28 (6): 649–653.
Sand M, Sand D, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2012a) MicroRNA in non-melanoma skin cancer. Cancer Biomark 11 (6): 253–257.
Sand M, Skrygan M (2014) Expression profiling of components of the miRNA maturation machinery. Methods Mol Biol 1095: 61–71.
Sand M, Skrygan M, Georgas D, Arenz C, Gambichler T, Sand D, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2012b) Expression levels of the microRNA maturing microprocessor complex component DGCR8 and the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) components argonaute-1, argonaute-2, PACT, TARBP1, and TARBP2 in epithelial skin cancer. Mol Carcinog 51 (11): 916–922.
Sand M, Skrygan M, Georgas D, Sand D, Gambichler T, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2012c) The miRNA machinery in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma, cutaneous malignant melanoma metastases and benign melanocytic nevi. Cell Tissue Res 350 (1): 119–126.
Sand M, Skrygan M, Georgas D, Sand D, Hahn SA, Gambichler T, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2012d) Microarray analysis of microRNA expression in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. J Dermatol Sci 68 (3): 119–126.
Sand M, Skrygan M, Sand D, Georgas D, Gambichler T, Hahn SA, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2013) Comparative microarray analysis of microRNA expression profiles in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma, cutaneous malignant melanoma metastases, and benign melanocytic nevi. Cell Tissue Res 351 (1): 85–98.
Sand M, Skrygan M, Sand D, Georgas D, Hahn SA, Gambichler T, Altmeyer P, Bechara FG (2012e) Expression of microRNAs in basal cell carcinoma. Br J Dermatol 167 (4): 847–855.
Voller D, Reinders J, Meister G, Bosserhoff AK (2013) Strong reduction of AGO2 expression in melanoma and cellular consequences. Br J Cancer 109 (12): 3116–3124.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
About this article
Cite this article
Sand, M., Georgas, D., Hessam, S. et al. Comment on ‘Strong reduction of AGO2 expression in melanoma and cellular consequences’. Br J Cancer 111, 1673 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.56
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.56
