Cover caption

Abstract

Melanoma, the most deadly of all skin cancers, is on the rise and metastatic melanoma is rarely curable. In this issue of Cancer Biology & Therapy, two proteins isolated from the venom of Vipera paleastinae are tested for their ability to inhibit melanoma metastasis. The proteins, VP12 and viperistatin, target integrins alpha2beta1 and alpha1beta1, respectively. On the cover of the current issue of Cancer Biology & Therapy, MV melanoma cells are stained for expression of integrin alpha2 (green). DAPI (blue) is used to stain nuclei. Staniszewska and colleagues go on to demonstrate a role for these two integrins in melanoma metastasis. For more information about the effects of the Viper derived treatments, VP12 and viperistatin, on the migration of melanoma cells, see the article by Staniszewska and colleagues.