ADCK2 knockdown induces a more dedifferentiated phenotype in melanoma cells. (A): SkMel28 siADCK2-transfected cells showed a significantly lower expression of the melanocyte marker TRP1. For TYR and MITF, we could show a tendency for downregulation, which, however, was not significant (left side). The ADCK2 knockdown also led to a higher expression of the NCC marker p75 (right side). (B): A knockdown of ADCK2 in SkMel30 cells led to a decreased expression of the melanocyte marker TYR, while the NCC marker p75 was upregulated. All relative mRNA expression levels were normalized to siControl-transfected Skmel28 or SkMel30 cells, respectively (n = 4). (C): The overexpression of ADCK2 induced upregulation of MITF in SkMel28 cells. The expression of the melanocyte markers TRP1 and TYR, as well as the expression of the NCC markers Pax3 and p75, was not altered. (D): The expression of the melanocyte markers MITF, TRP1 and TYR was not changed in SkMel30 ADCK2-overexpressing cells (left side). Additionally, the expression of the NCC markers Pax3 and p75 remained unaltered (n = 3). (E): The pellets of the pigmented cell line SkMel30 were slightly brighter 96 h after knockdown of ADCK2 compared to control cells. All statistical analyses were conducted with paired t-test. * p ≤ 0.05; ** p ≤ 0.01; *** p ≤ 0.001; ns = not significant.