There have been many proposed theories for effectively treating melanoma, especially through the regulation of histamine. Histamine has been proven to be a major regulator of the immune system's T-helper cell subset balance and major shifts in this balance towards TH2 cytokines have contributed to diseases such as asthma, lupus and cancer. Histamine also causes suppression of interferon-induced proteins needed for anti-tumor response and activates T-suppressor cell function in cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Scientific evidence has suggested the possibility of antihistamine approach as treatment for these diseases and for melanoma, there has been great promise. This is due to the fact that melanotic cells have been elucidated to express histamine receptors and as a result, regulation of histamine could occur specifically at the site of these epidermal growths.

An approach of particular interest is targeting H1 and H2 receptors for antihistamine drugs. H1 antagonists have been demonstrated to induce apoptosis (cell death) in human melanoma cell lines utilizing a caspase-2 dependent mitochondrial pathway while H2 receptors have been involved in causing TH1 subset levels to predominate down-regulating T-suppressor cells. In addition, detecting receptors amongst the primary tumor and its secondary/metasized form is of interest for analyzing consistent gene expression.

Our lab is currently studying human melanoma cell lines of primary and metastasized samples in attempts to detect a correlation and/or differences of histamine 1 and 2 expression. Our methods involve: tissue culture, isolating total RNA from the cells, and then a protocol for isolating mRNA. One the mRNA is isolated, it will be further analyzed by reverse transcriptase PCR for gene expression of 1 and 2 receptors.

Publications

Site-Specific Therapy: An Integrative Approach to Treating Melanoma, Kavekos

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Libby Handel
Director of Biotechnology Programs
handele@palmbeachstate.edu

OR

Manny Kavekos
Biotechnology Professor
kavekosm@palmbeachstate.edu