MITF and melanoma: Melanoma originates from epidermal melanocytes and shares many molecular similarities with melanocyte precursors, indicating that the developmental program of melanocytes, especially the transcriptional regulation program, is utilized by melanoma cells to facilitate tumor progression.60 In fact, multiple key transcriptional factors and signal pathways responsible for the formation of melanocytic lineage, including SOX10, MITF, Notch, and Wnt-β-catenin, are greatly implicated in the malignant characteristics of melanoma cells.