Invasion of the brain by non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) results in a shift of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to the insufficiently characterized blood-tumor barrier (BTB). Effective drug delivery ...through the BTB is one of the greatest therapeutic obstacles in treating brain metastases. Using an experimental model, we defined key changes within the BTB and the BBB in the brain around the tumor (BAT) region over time. Brain-seeking NSCLC cells were delivered into the circulation of athymic-nude mice via intracardiac injection and developing brain metastases were evaluated over six-weeks. Components of the BBB and BTB were analyzed using immunofluorescence microscopy and compared using a mixed model of regression. Our results demonstrate a dynamic time-dependent BTB phenotype. Capillaries of the BAT and BTB were dilated with increased CD31 expression compared to controls. Expression of collagen IV, a pan-basement membrane component, was significantly decreased in the BTB compared to the BBB. There was also a significant increase in the desmin-positive pericyte subpopulation in the BTB compared to the BBB. The most striking changes were identified in astrocyte water channels with a 12.18-fold (
p
< 0.001) decrease in aquaporin-4 in the BTB; the BAT was unchanged. Analysis of NSCLC brain metastases from patient samples similarly demonstrated dilated capillaries and loss of both collagen IV and aquaporin-4. These data provide a comprehensive analysis of the BTB in NSCLC brain metastasis. Astrocytic endfeet, pericytes, and the basement membrane are potential therapeutic targets to improve efficacy of chemotherapeutic delivery into NSCLC brain metastases.
Mammary tumorigenesis is associated with the increased expression of several proteins in the focal adhesion complex, including focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and various integrins. Aberrant expression ...of these molecules occurs concomitant with the conversion of TGF-beta function from a tumor suppressor to a tumor promoter. We previously showed that interaction between beta3 integrin and TbetaR-II facilitates TGF-beta-mediated oncogenic signaling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and metastasis. However, the molecular mechanisms by which the focal adhesion complex contributes to beta3 integrin:TbetaR-II signaling and the oncogenic conversion of TGF-beta remain poorly understood.
FAK expression and activity were inhibited in normal and malignant mammary epithelial cells (MECs) either genetically by using lentiviral-mediated delivery of shRNAs against FAK, or pharmacologically through in vitro and in vivo use of the FAK inhibitors, PF-562271 and PF-573228. Altered Smad2/3 and p38 MAPK activation, migration, EMT, and invasion in response to TGF-beta1 were monitored in FAK-manipulated cells. TbetaR-II expression was increased in metastatic breast cancer cells by retroviral transduction, and the metastasis of FAK- and TbetaR-II-manipulated tumors was monitored by using bioluminescent imaging.
TGF-beta stimulation of MECs stabilized and activated FAK in a beta3 integrin- and Src-dependent manner. Furthermore, by using the human MCF10A breast cancer progression model, we showed that increased FAK expression in metastatic breast cancer cells mirrored the acquisition of enhanced activation of p38 MAPK by TGF-beta. Administering FAK inhibitors or rendering metastatic breast cancer cells FAK deficient abrogated the interaction between beta3 integrin and TbetaR-II, thereby preventing TGF-beta from (a) activating p38 MAPK; (b) stimulating MEC invasion, migration, and EMT; and (c) inducing early primary tumor dissemination to the lungs. Finally, in contrast to FAK depletion, adjuvant FAK chemotherapy of mammary tumors decreased their growth in part by diminished macrophage tumor infiltration.
Our studies identify an essential function for FAK in mediating the interaction between beta3 integrin and TbetaR-II, and thus in facilitating the oncogenic conversion of TGF-beta required for mammary tumor metastasis. Furthermore, this study establishes chemotherapeutic targeting of FAK as an effective, two-pronged approach in preventing tumor progression both by decreasing innate immune cell infiltration, and by inhibiting early TGF-beta-dependent metastasis.
Chemokines, a large family of small chemoattractive cytokines, and their receptors play an integral role in the regulation of the immune response and homeostasis. The ability of chemokines to attract ...specific populations of immune cells sets them apart from other chemoattractants. Chemokines produced within the gastrointestinal mucosa are critical players in directing the balance between physiological and pathophysiological inflammation in health, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and the progression to colon cancer. In addition to the well-characterized role of chemokines in directed trafficking of immune cells to the gut mucosa, the expression of chemokine receptors on the cells of the epithelium makes them active participants in the chemokine signaling network. Recent findings demonstrate an important role for chemokines and chemokine receptors in epithelial barrier repair and maintenance as well as an intricate involvement in limiting metastasis of colonic carcinoma. Increased recognition of the association between barrier defects and inflammation and the subsequent progression to cancer in IBD thus implicates chemokines as key regulators of mucosal homeostasis and disease pathogenesis.
Survival of dormant, disseminated breast cancer cells contributes to tumor relapse and metastasis. Women with a body mass index greater than 35 have an increased risk of developing metastatic ...recurrence. Herein, we investigated the effect of diet-induced obesity (DIO) on primary tumor growth and metastatic progression using both metastatic and systemically dormant mouse models of breast cancer. This approach led to increased PT growth and pulmonary metastasis. We developed a novel protocol to induce obesity in Balb/c mice by combining dietary and hormonal interventions with a thermoneutral housing strategy. In contrast to standard housing conditions, ovariectomized Balb/c mice fed a high-fat diet under thermoneutral conditions became obese over a period of 10 weeks, resulting in a 250% gain in fat mass. Obese mice injected with the D2.OR model developed macroscopic pulmonary nodules compared with the dormant phenotype of these cells in mice fed a control diet. Analysis of the serum from obese Balb/c mice revealed increased levels of FGF2 as compared with lean mice. We demonstrate that serum from obese animals, exogenous FGF stimulation, or constitutive stimulation through autocrine and paracrine FGF2 is sufficient to break dormancy and drive pulmonary outgrowth. Blockade of FGFR signaling or specific depletion of FGFR1 prevented obesity-associated outgrowth of the D2.OR model.
Overall, this study developed a novel DIO model that allowed for demonstration of FGF2:FGFR1 signaling as a key molecular mechanism connecting obesity to breakage of systemic tumor dormancy and metastatic progression.
Tumor metastasis is connected to epithelial-mesenchymal heterogeneity (EMH) and the extracellular matrix (ECM) within the tumor microenvironment. Mesenchymal-like fibronectin (FN) expressing tumor ...cells enhance metastasis within tumors that have EMH. However, the secondary tumors are primarily composed of the FN null population. Interestingly, during tumor cell dissemination, the invasive front has more mesenchymal-like characteristics, although the outgrowths of metastatic colonies consist of a more epithelial-like population of cells. We hypothesize that soluble FN provided by mesenchymal-like tumor cells plays a role in supporting the survival of the more epithelial-like tumor cells within the metastatic niche in a paracrine manner. Furthermore, due to a lower rate of proliferation, the mesenchymal-like tumor cells become a minority population within the metastatic niche. In this study, we utilized a multi-parametric cell-tracking algorithm and immunoblotting to evaluate the effect of EMH on the growth and invasion of an isogenic cell series within a 3D collagen network using a microfluidic platform. Using the MCF10A progression series, we demonstrated that co-culture with FN-expressing MCF10CA1h cells significantly enhanced the survival of the more epithelial MCF10CA1a cells, with a two-fold increase in the population after 5 days in co-culture, whereas the population of the MCF10CA1a cells began to decrease after 2.5 days when cultured alone (p < 0.001). However, co-culture did not significantly alter the rate of proliferation for the more mesenchymal MCF10CA1h cells. Epithelial tumor cells not only showed prolonged survival, but migrated significantly longer distances (350 µm compared with 150 µm, respectively, p < 0.01) and with greater velocity magnitude (4.5 µm/h compared with 2.1 µm/h, respectively, p < 0.001) under co-culture conditions and in response to exogenously administered FN. Genetic depletion of FN from the MCF10CA1h cells resulted in a loss of survival and migration capacity of the epithelial and mesenchymal populations. These data suggest that mesenchymal tumor cells may function to support the survival and outgrowth of more epithelial tumor cells within the metastatic niche and that inhibition of FN production may provide a valuable target for treating metastatic disease.
The deubiquitinase (DUB) ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) is expressed primarily in the central nervous system under normal physiological conditions. However, UCHL1 is overexpressed in ...various aggressive forms of cancer with strong evidence supporting UCHL1 as an oncogene in lung, glioma, and blood cancers. In particular, the level of UCHL1 expression in these cancers correlates with increased invasiveness and metastatic behavior, as well as poor patient prognosis. Although UCHL1 is considered an oncogene with potential as a therapeutic target, there remains a significant lack of useful small‐molecule probes to pharmacologically validate in vivo targeting of the enzyme. Herein, we describe the characterization of a new covalent cyanopyrrolidine‐based UCHL1 inhibitory scaffold in biochemical and cellular studies to better understand the utility of this inhibitor in elucidating the role of UCHL1 in cancer biology.
We present biochemical, structural and cellular characterization of a newly reported class of cyanopyrrolidine covalent inhibitors of the important oncotarget UCHL1. The insight into mechanism of action and structural analysis learned from this work provides information for the future design of potent and selective UCHL1 covalent inhibitors.
The deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) UCHL1 is implicated in various disease states including neurodegenerative disease and cancer. However, there is a lack of quality probe molecules to gain a better ...understanding on UCHL1 biology. To this end a study was carried out to fully characterize and optimize the irreversible covalent UCHL1 inhibitor VAEFMK. Structure-activity relationship studies identified modifications to improve activity versus the target and a full cellular characterization was carried out for the first time with this scaffold. The studies produced a new inhibitor,
, with an IC
value of 7.7 µM against UCHL1 and no observable activity versus the closest related DUB UCHL3. The molecule was also capable of selectively inhibiting UCHL1 in cells and did not demonstrate any discernible off-target toxicity. Finally, the molecule was used for initial probe studies to assess the role of UCHL1 role in proliferation of myeloma cells and migration behavior in small cell lung cancer cells making
a new tool to be used in the biological evaluation of UCHL1.
Glycoproteins comprise more than half of current FDA-approved protein cancer markers, but the development of new glycoproteins as disease biomarkers has been stagnant. Here we present a pipeline to ...develop glycoproteins from extracellular vesicles (EVs) through integrating quantitative glycoproteomics with a novel reverse phase glycoprotein array and then apply it to identify novel biomarkers for breast cancer. EV glycoproteomics show promise in circumventing the problems plaguing current serum/plasma glycoproteomics and allowed us to identify hundreds of glycoproteins that have not been identified in blood. We identified 1,453 unique glycopeptides representing 556 glycoproteins in EVs, among which 20 were verified significantly higher in individual breast cancer patients. We further applied a novel glyco-specific reverse phase protein array to quantify a subset of the candidates. Together, this study demonstrates the great potential of this integrated pipeline for biomarker discovery.
As aberrant activity of protein kinases is observed in many disease states, these enzymes are common targets for therapeutics and detection of activity levels. The development of non-natural protein ...kinase substrates offers an approach to protein substrate competitive inhibitors, a class of kinase inhibitors with promise for improved specificity. Also, kinase activity detection approaches would benefit from substrates with improved activity and specificity. Here, we apply a substrate-mediated selection to a peptidomimetic DNA-encoded chemical library for enrichment of molecules that can be phosphorylated by the protein tyrosine kinase, c-Src. Several substrates were identified and characterized for activity. A lead compound (
) showed both the ability to serve as a substrate and to promote ATP hydrolysis by the kinase. In inhibition assays, compounds displayed IC
s ranging from of 8-100 µM. NMR analysis of
bound to the c-Src:ATP complex was conducted to characterize the binding mode. An ester derivative of the lead compound demonstrated cellular activity with inhibition of Src-dependent signaling in cell culture. Together, the results show the potential for substrate-mediated selections of DNA-encoded libraries to discover molecules with functions other than simple protein binding and offer a new discovery method for development of synthetic tyrosine kinase substrates.
Resistance to anoikis, apoptosis triggered by a loss of cellular adhesion to the underlying extracellular matrix, is a hallmark of metastatic cancer. Previously we have shown re-establishment of ...CXCL12 expression in colorectal carcinoma cells inhibits metastasis by enhancing anoikis sensitivity. The objective of these studies was to define the signaling mechanisms regulating CXCL12-mediated anoikis.
Adhesion, examined by crystal violet staining, immunofluorescence microscopy, and immunoblot analysis indicated decreased focal adhesion signaling corresponding with loss of adhesion in cells constitutively simulated by CXCL12. Loss of adhesion was inhibited by pertussis toxin treatment, indicating CXCL12 regulating anoikis through G(αi)-protein coupled receptors. Non-adherent HCT116 and HT29 colorectal carcinoma cells expressing CXCL12 exhibited enhanced anoikis sensitivity by propidium iodide staining, caspase activity assays, and immunoblot compared to GFP control cells. CXCL12 producing carcinomas cultured on poly-HEMA displayed heightened Bim and loss of Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 preceding cytochrome c release, and caspase-9 activation. RNAi knockdown of Bim reversed anoikis sensitivity of CXCL12-expressing cells and fostered increased soft-agar foci formation and hepatic tumors in an orthotopic mouse model of metastasis.
These data indicate CXCL12 provides a barrier to metastasis by increasing anoikis via activation of a Bim-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway. These results underscore the importance of retaining CXCL12 expression to sensitize colorectal carcinomas to anoikis and minimize tumor progression.
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