Xiaoyu Zhang, Yu Hou, Jiahui Liu, Yuehua Han, Jiangang Feng
Melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer with poor prognosis, often linked to excessive UV exposure. Despite advancements in immunotherapy and targeted treatments, melanoma's invasiveness and metastatic potential remain significant challenges. This study aimed to identify novel molecular targets associated with melanoma progression. Consensus clustering analysis revealed three melanoma subtypes, with the C3 subtype exhibiting the worst prognosis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified FOXQ1 as a key driver in this subtype. FOXQ1 expression was elevated in clinical melanoma tissues and cell lines, and silencing FOXQ1 in vitro reduced melanoma cell proliferation, migration, and induced apoptosis. To explore its downstream targets, FOXQ1 was found to repress the expression of SSBP2, a gene inversely correlated with FOXQ1. Functional assays demonstrated that silencing SSBP2 promoted melanoma malignancy. Rescue experiments showed that knockdown of SSBP2 reversed the tumor-suppressive effects of FOXQ1 silencing. These results suggest that the FOXQ1/SSBP2 regulatory axis plays a critical role in melanoma progression and may serve as a potential therapeutic target to improve melanoma treatment outcomes.