Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), a leader tryptophan-degrading enzyme, represents a recognized immune checkpoint molecule. In neoplasia, IDO1 is often highly expressed in dendritic cells infiltrating the tumor and/or in tumor cells themselves, particularly in human melanoma. In dendritic cells, IDO1 does not merely metabolize tryptophan into kynurenine but, after phosphorylation of critical tyrosine residues in the non-catalytic small domain, it triggers a signaling pathway prolonging its immunoregulatory effects by a feed-forward mechanism. We here investigated whether the non-enzymatic function of IDO1 could also play a role in tumor cells by using B16-F10 mouse melanoma cells transfected with either the wild-type
Ido1
gene (
Ido1
WT
) or a mutated variant lacking the catalytic, but not signaling activity (
Ido1
H350A
). As compared to the
Ido1
WT
-transfected counterpart (B16
WT
), B16-F10 cells expressing
Ido1
H350A
(B16
H350A
) were characterized by an
in vitro
accelerated growth mediated by increased Ras and Erk activities. Faster growth and malignant progression of B16
H350A
cells, also detectable
in vivo
, were found to be accompanied by a reduction in tumor-infiltrating CD8
+
T cells and an increase in Foxp3
+
regulatory T cells. Our data, therefore, suggest that the IDO1 signaling function can also occur in tumor cells and that alternative therapeutic approach strategies should be undertaken to effectively tackle this important immune checkpoint molecule.