Skip to Main Content
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Search

  • Admissions
  • Education
  • Research
  • Giving
  • Emergency
Search
  • Current Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Alumni
  • Parents
  • Donors
  • About
    • Frontline Medicine
    • By The Numbers
    • Strategic Plan
    • Organizational Chart
    • BUMC HR Resources
    • History
    • Clinical Affiliations
    • Basic Science & Clinical Departments
    • Faculty Directory
    • Alumni Medical Library
  • Education
    • PhD Education
    • MD Education
    • Master’s Degree Education
    • Dual Degree Programs & Certificates
    • Center for Continuing Education
  • Admissions
    • Why Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine?
    • Apply for MD Program
    • Apply for PhD Program
    • Apply for Master’s Program
  • Student Affairs
    • MD Student Affairs
    • GMS Student Affairs Resources
  • Giving
    • Why Give?
    • Who Gives?
    • What Can I Give?
    • Where Can I Give?
    • What Can I Attend?
    • How Can I Give?
    • Contact the Development Office
    • Parents Community
    • Donor Resources
  • Research
    • Cores, Facilities & Services
    • Find Funding
    • Centers & Institutes
    • Human Subject Research
    • Resources
  • Offices & Services
    • Office of the Dean
    • Faculty Affairs Office
    • MD Program Offices
    • Master’s & PhD Program Offices
    • Alumni Office
    • Development Office
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Communications Office
    • Events Office
  • News & Events
    • News Archive
    • Calendar

Frontline Medicine & Science

  • Awards & HonorsMeet the 2025 GHHS Nominees
  • ResearchCollaboration Between BU Clinicians, Basic Scientists and Engineers Can Lead to New Drugs to Fight Disease
  • Education20th Annual McCahan Medical Campus Education Conference Focuses on Transition, Transformation
View News & Events

Magazine

Winter Spring 2025Boston University Medicine

Study Examines How a Protein Called PAX3 Controls Genes in Melanoma

Schematic for different ways PAX3 binds to DNA 1
Research

Study Examines How a Protein Called PAX3 Controls Genes in Melanoma

May 19, 2025
Twitter Facebook

PAX3 is a transcription factor (proteins involved in converting DNA into RNA) that drives melanoma progression by promoting cell growth, migration and survival, while inhibiting cellular terminal differentiation, which is the final stage where a cell becomes specialized and cell division ends. However, known PAX3 target genes are limited and cannot fully explain the wide impact of PAX3 function, suggesting that there are most likely many other genes that PAX3 controls that are undiscovered.

The PAX3 protein can regulate DNA through two separate binding domains, the paired domain (PD) and homeodomain (HD), which bind different DNA motifs, short recurring sequences within a DNA strand that regulate gene expression. It is not clear if these two domains bind and work together to regulate genes and if they promote all or only a subset of downstream cellular events.

A new study by researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has discovered that PAX3 mainly uses the PD to bind to the DNA, and that it mostly turns on genes—many of which help cells grow and make other proteins – activities that support cancer growth.

head and shoulders of Deborah Langm with dark hair and dark rimmed eyeglasses standing in front of a green bush outside
Deborah Lang, PhD

“PAX3 is normally important for the development and growth of pigment cells called melanocytes, but in melanoma it is too active and helps cancer grow. What’s new about our study is that we used a broad and detailed approach to see exactly where PAX3 sits on the DNA in melanoma cells – something that hasn’t been done before in this way,” explains corresponding author Deborah Lang, PhD, associate professor of dermatology.

In an effort to see where PAX3 attaches to DNA in melanoma cells, the researchers created a computer program to predict how PAX3 touches the DNA – specifically, which part of the PAX3 protein is involved. They also checked whether the genes that PAX3 touched were turned on (active) or off (repressed).

The researchers believe that PAX3 could be a good target for treating melanoma, but currently, there are no drugs that block the function of this protein. “Since we found that PAX3 works mostly through its paired domain, designing drugs that block this part of the protein could be an effective way to treat melanoma,” adds Lang.

These findings appear online in the journal Genes.

Explore Related Topics:

  • research
  • Share this story

Share

Study Examines How a Protein Called PAX3 Controls Genes in Melanoma

72 East Concord St.
Boston, MA 02118
Contact & Directions
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube

We are Frontline Medicine & Science.

Every day, we learn, conduct research, care, teach, discover, and pioneer in places not everyone goes: the classrooms at the frontline of medicine & science.

  • Medical Campus
  • Search
  • Directory
  • Contact
Boston University
  • © 2025 Trustees of Boston University
  • Privacy Statement
  • Accessibility
  • DMCA
© 2025 Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
Boston University Masterplate