SK-MEL-3

SK-MEL-3 is a human malignant melanoma cell line, derived from a lymph node metastasis of a patient with cutaneous melanoma. It is one of the related lines in the famous SK-MEL cell series. The cells are in the late stage of melanoma and still have a lot of phenotypic and molecular traits similar to metastatic disease.

At the molecular and immunophenotypic level, SK-MEL-3 cells express the melanoma-associated antigens MART-1 (Melan-A), gp100 (PMEL), and tyrosinase and have been used widely in immunologic studies of melanoma. At the genetic level, this cell line also shares a number of alterations with melanoma in general, such as aberrant MAPK pathway activation, leading to increased proliferation and survival of these cells. Functionally, SK-MEL-3 cells show malignant phenotypes, such as high proliferative capacity and invasive growth. Expression of the tumor-associated antigens MART-1, gp100, and tyrosinase in these cells has made this cell line particularly useful in studies of tumor immunogenicity, tumor antigen presentation, and immune-mediated killing of tumor cells. The SK-MEL-3 cell line is commonly used to study immune checkpoint signaling, cancer vaccines, and adoptive cell therapies as well as for preclinical testing of targeted and immunotherapeutic drugs.