Fateful music from a talented orchestra with a wicked conductor: Connection between oncogenic BRAF, ER stress, and autophagy in human melanoma.

Autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are involved in the development, progression, and chemoresistance of melanoma. We recently reported that oncogenic serine/threonine-protein kinase BRAF induces chronic ER stress, hence increasing baseline autophagy and promoting chemoresistance. The attenuation of ER stress restores basal autophagic activity and resensitizes melanoma cells to apoptosis.