The translational significance of our findings was strengthened by immunochemical evaluation of primary and metastatic melanoma specimens, suggesting that coexpression of FKBP51 and the stem cell marker nestin is a distinctive feature of the invading melanoma cell, which is equipped for extravasation, easily adaptable to the colonized milieu, and capable of subverting the microenvironment of distant sites. This evidence concerns the gene FKBP5 and metastatic melanoma.