Maria Beatrice Arasi

Scopus Publications

BRAF Mutations in Melanoma: Biological Aspects, Therapeutic Implications, and Circulating Biomarkers
Giorgia Castellani, Mariachiara Buccarelli, Maria Beatrice Arasi, Stefania Rossi, Maria Elena Pisanu, Maria Bellenghi, Carla Lintas, and Claudio Tabolacci
MDPI AG
Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer resulting from the malignant transformation of melanocytes. Recent therapeutic approaches, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy, have improved the prognosis and outcome of melanoma patients. BRAF is one of the most frequently mutated oncogenes recognised in melanoma. The most frequent oncogenic BRAF mutations consist of a single point mutation at codon 600 (mostly V600E) that leads to constitutive activation of the BRAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) signalling pathway. Therefore, mutated BRAF has become a useful target for molecular therapy and the use of BRAF kinase inhibitors has shown promising results. However, several resistance mechanisms invariably develop leading to therapeutic failure. The aim of this manuscript is to review the role of BRAF mutational status in the pathogenesis of melanoma and its impact on differentiation and inflammation. Moreover, this review focuses on the mechanisms responsible for resistance to targeted therapies in BRAF-mutated melanoma and provides an overview of circulating biomarkers including circulating tumour cells, circulating tumour DNA, and non-coding RNAs.

MiR126-targeted-nanoparticles combined with PI3K/AKT inhibitor as a new strategy to overcome melanoma resistance
Maria Beatrice Arasi, Gabriele De Luca, Laura Chronopoulou, Francesca Pedini, Eleonora Petrucci, Michela Flego, Annarita Stringaro, Marisa Colone, Luca Pasquini, Massimo Spada,et al.
Elsevier BV

Advances in natural or synthetic nanoparticles for metastatic melanoma therapy and diagnosis
Maria Beatrice Arasi, Francesca Pedini, Sonia Valentini, Nadia Felli, and Federica Felicetti
MDPI AG
Advanced melanoma is still a major challenge in oncology. In the early stages, melanoma can be treated successfully with surgery and the survival rate is high, nevertheless the survival rate drops drastically after metastasis dissemination. The identification of parameters predictive of the prognosis to support clinical decisions and of new efficacious therapies are important to ensure patients the best possible prognosis. Recent progress in nanotechnology allowed the development of nanoparticles able to protect drugs from degradation and to deliver the drug to the tumor. Modification of the nanoparticle surface by specific molecules improves retention and accumulation in the target tissue. In this review, we describe the potential role of nanoparticles in advanced melanoma treatment and discuss the current efforts of designing polymeric nanoparticles for controlled drug release at the site upon injection. In addition, we highlight the advances as well as the challenges of exosome-based nanocarriers as drug vehicles. We place special focus on the advantages of these natural nanocarriers in delivering various cargoes in advanced melanoma treatment. We also describe the current advances in knowledge of melanoma-related exosomes, including their biogenesis, molecular contents and biological functions, focusing our attention on their utilization for early diagnosis and prognosis in melanoma disease.

Joint action of miR-126 and MAPK/PI3K inhibitors against metastatic melanoma
Francesca Pedini, Gabriele De Luca, Federica Felicetti, Rossella Puglisi, Alessandra Boe, Maria Beatrice Arasi, Federica Fratini, Gianfranco Mattia, Massimo Spada, Simona Caporali,et al.
Wiley
Emerging data support the rationale of combined therapies in advanced melanoma. Specifically, the combined use of drugs with different mechanisms of action can reduce the probability of selecting resistant clones. To identify agents active against melanoma cells, we screened a library of 349 anti‐cancer compounds, currently in clinical use or trials, and selected PIK‐75, an inhibitor of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway, as the ‘top active’ drug. PIK‐75 was then used alone or in combination with vemurafenib, the first BRAF inhibitor approved for patients with melanoma harboring BRAF mutations. We identified a combined dose of PIK‐75 and vemurafenib that inhibited both the PI3K/AKT and mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathways, thereby overcoming any compensatory activation. In view of the important tumor suppressor function induced by restoring expression of microRNA (miR)‐126 in metastatic melanoma cells, we examined whether miR‐126 has a synergistic role when included in a triple combination alongside PIK‐75 and vemurafenib. We found that enforced expression of miR‐126 (which alone can reduce tumorigenicity) significantly increased PIK‐75 activity when used as either a single agent or in combination with vemurafenib. Interestingly, PIK‐75 proved to be effective against early passage cell lines derived from patients’ biopsies and on melanoma cell lines resistant to either vemurafenib or dabrafenib, thus suggesting that it potentially has the capability to overcome drug resistance. Finally, the synergistic role played by miR‐126 in combination with vemurafenib and/or PIK‐75 was demonstrated in vivo in mouse xenograft models, in which tumor growth inhibition was associated with increased apoptosis. These results not only show the efficacy of PIK‐75 and vemurafenib co‐treatment but also indicate that restoration of miR‐126 expression in advanced melanoma can enhance their antitumor activity, which may possibly allow dose reduction to decrease adverse events without reducing the therapeutic benefits.