2. Academic Validation
  3. Potential of CLSPN as a therapeutic target in melanoma: a key player in melanoma progression and tumor microenvironment

Potential of CLSPN as a therapeutic target in melanoma: a key player in melanoma progression and tumor microenvironment

  • J Transl Med. 2025 Apr 24;23(1):470. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06455-w.
Yongyi Xie # 1,  Ruoqi Wang # 1 2,  Mingyuan Xu # 1,  Jiashe Chen 1,  Wei Tan 1,  Yanbin Chen 1,  Yun Bai 1,  Nanhui Wu 1,  Fei Wu 1,  Xiaoxiang Xu 1,  Xin Ma 3 4,  Yeqiang Liu 5 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
  • 2 Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai Skin Disease Clinical College, The Fifth Clinical Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Shanghai, 200443, China.
  • 3 Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. Nicole.ma@me.com.
  • 4 , Baode Road 1278 street, Shanghai, 200433, China. Nicole.ma@me.com.
  • 5 Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. 1500156@tongji.edu.cn.
  • 6 Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai Skin Disease Clinical College, The Fifth Clinical Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Shanghai, 200443, China. 1500156@tongji.edu.cn.
  • 7 , Baode Road 1278 street, Shanghai, 200433, China. 1500156@tongji.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40275302 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-025-06455-w
Abstract

Background: Melanoma is a highly aggressive form of skin Cancer. Despite significant advances in targeted therapies and immunotherapeutic approaches, some patients still have poor response rates, making a deeper understanding of melanoma pathogenesis essential.

Methods: The expression of Claspin (CLSPN), prognosis and immune infiltration in skin cutaneous melanoma patients were analyzed by public databases. Immunohistochemistry was used to validate. Moreover, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, western blot, cell counting kit-8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, animal experiments, and RNA-seq were applied to explore its biological functions and potential molecular mechanisms of CLSPN in melanoma.

Results: Our results demonstrated that abnormal CLSPN expression was correlated with poor prognosis in melanoma. Meanwhile, CLSPN may promote melanoma growth and progression in vivo and in vitro through IFI44L/JAK/STAT1 signaling. Additionally, CLSPN was associated with negative immune microenvironment in melanoma and may be related to polarization of tumor associated macrophages towards M2-type.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that CLSPN may be a promising new target for melanoma and accelerate personalized therapeutic strategies.

Keywords

CLSPN; SKCM; TAMs; Tumor immunological microenvironment.

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