Craig Ceol receives grant to investigate treatment for immunotherapy-resistant melanoma

Craig Ceol, PhD, has received a two-year Established Investigator Award from the Melanoma Research Foundation to investigate inhibiting ligand-driven bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling to overcome immunotherapy resistance.

This work builds on previous findings from the Ceol Lab identifying GDF6, a BMP ligand, as a melanoma oncoprotein. GDF6 is highly expressed in 75–80% of melanomas and drives tumor formation by suppressing cell differentiation and apoptosis. Blocking GDF6 disrupts BMP signaling, causing melanoma cells to differentiate and die, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target. Importantly, GDF6 is not expressed in normal melanocytes or in adult tissues, making it a selective and attractive target for treatment.

The proposed research aims to determine whether targeting GDF6 could provide an effective therapy for immunotherapy-resistant melanoma, a persistent and major clinical challenge. To advance this work, Dr. Ceol is collaborating with Michael Brehm, PhD, Professor of Molecular Medicine and Co-Director of the UMass Chan Humanized Mouse Core. Together, they will investigate whether therapeutic monoclonal antibodies targeting GDF6, developed by the Ceol Lab in partnership with MassBiologics, can both directly attack immunotherapy-resistant tumor cells and enhance the effectiveness of existing immunotherapies. If successful, this two-pronged approach could deliver a powerful new treatment for patients with immunotherapy-resistant melanoma.