Vemurafenib induces senescence and increased adhesive features in melanoma cells: putative role of cell plasticity in drug resistance

The current results demonstrated that vemurafenib induces the phenotypic switch in melanoma cells depending on their mutational status. It also strengthens the adhesive features of senescent cells, increasing their binding to fibronectin via ITGAV, which may be a part of the phenotypic mode of drug resistance or slow interaction of proliferating cancer cells with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus, targeting senescent cells by focal adhesion modulators may be a promising approach to control drug-resistant melanoma cells.