Mc1r promotes migration of melanoma cells.

<p>(A) Quantitative Real time RTPCR assays were carried out using B16F10 murine melanoma cells transfected with the universal control siRNA, MT1-Mc1r, or one of the three siRNAs specific for Mc1r, WT1-Mc1r, WT2-Mc1r, and WT3-Mc1r. The nucleotide sequence of MT1-Mc1r differs from that of WT1-Mc1r by 5 nucleotides. The expression levels of Mc1r, Ald1a, and Ctbp1 were examined. The effect of Mc1r knockdown is expressed relative to that of the universal control siRNA after normalization with GAPDH expression level. Values represent the average of three independent real-time PCR experiments each carried out in duplicates, and error bars represent standard deviations. (B–G) B16F10 cells were treated with the universal control siRNA (B), MT1-Mc1r (C), WT1-Mc1r (D), WT2-Mc1r (E), or WT3-Mc1r (F) and put to transwell migration assay. (G) Quantitation of transwell migration assay. The effect of Mc1r knockdown on the number of cells that migrated through the filter pores is shown in percentile relative to the universal control case. Values represent the average of 5 independent trials, and error bars represent standard deviations. The asterisk (*) represents a significant difference with the <i>p</i> value of <0.05.