Darkening with UVRAG

Abstract

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced skin pigmentation, afforded by the dark organelles termed melanosomes, accounts for the first-line protection against environmental UVR that increases the risk of developing skin cancers including melanoma. We have recently discovered that UVRAG, originally identified as a BECN1-binding macroautophagy/autophagy protein, appears to have a specialized function in melanosome biogenesis beyond autophagy through its interaction with the biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex 1 (BLOC-1). This melanogenic function of UVRAG is controlled by the melanocyte-specific transcription factor MITF as a downstream effector of the α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH)-cAMP signaling in the suntan response, which is compromised in BRAF mutant melanoma. Thus we propose a new mode of UVRAG activity and regulation in melanocyte biology that may affect melanoma predisposition.