Melanoma and MAPK Signal Transduction Pathway

Mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway(MAPK) is an extracellular signal protein kinase transduction pathway, extensively involved in the growth, invasion and metastasis of malignant melanoma (MM). In the MAPK superfamily,the MAPK/ERK pathway is considered the most significant. It is recognized now that RAS, ERK, especially BRAF kinase in the MAPK/ERK pathway probably play important roles in the development of MM. Stressing the MAPK/ERK pathway, the article mainly reviews the current understanding of the roles of BRAF, RAS and ERK kinases in MM.