Investigation of expression levels of AMBRA1 and mTOR genes in cutaneous malignant melanoma

Melanoma is a type of invasive skin cancer that occurs when pigment-producing cells called melanocytes begin to divide uncontrollably because of mutation. The presence of a family member with a history of the disease in one out of every ten patients diagnosed with melanoma shows the relationship between the disease and genetics. In our study, we focused on the genetic feature of cutaneous malignant melanoma, and the Activating Molecule in Beclin-1-Regulated Autophagy (AMBRA1) and the Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Kinase (mTOR) gene were studied. In our study, the expression levels of the relevant AMBRA1 and mTOR genes were investigated in patients (n=50) diagnosed with cutaneous malignant melanoma and healthy (n=50) individuals in the control group. After obtaining cDNA samples from tissue samples, expression levels of AMBRA1 and mTOR genes were measured using the comparative CT method (ΔΔCT) with Real Time PCR. The distribution of expression levels of AMBRA1 and mTOR genes, which are thought to be involved in the etiology of CMM, in the control and patient groups were examined, and their p values and descriptive statistics were calculated. As a result of our study, no statistically significant difference was observed in the expression levels of AMBRA1 and mTOR genes in patients diagnosed with Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma compared to controls (p>0.05). We believe that in future studies, determination of protein levels will be meaningful, as well as expression analysis with large sample numbers. This study, which we conducted on the basis of Mersin sample, is the first study in our country on the expression values of AMBRA1 and mTOR genes in tissue and control groups with CMM.