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Solmi R, Ugolini G, Rosati G, Zanotti S, Lauriola M, Montroni I, del Governatore M, Caira A, Taffurelli M, Santini D, Coppola D, Guidotti L, Carinci P, Strippoli P. Microarray-based identification and RT-PCR test screening for epithelial-specific mRNAs in peripheral blood of patients with colon cancer. BMC Cancer 2006; 6:250. [PMID: 17054783 PMCID: PMC1629022 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2407-6-250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2006] [Accepted: 10/20/2006] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The efficacy of screening for colorectal cancer using a simple blood-based assay for the detection of tumor cells disseminated in the circulation at an early stage of the disease is gaining positive feedback from several lines of research. This method seems able to reduce colorectal cancer mortality and may replace colonoscopy as the most effective means of detecting colonic lesions. METHODS In this work, we present a new microarray-based high-throughput screening method to identifying candidate marker mRNAs for the early detection of epithelial cells diluted in peripheral blood cells. This method includes 1. direct comparison of different samples of colonic mucosa and of blood cells to identify consistent epithelial-specific mRNAs from among 20,000 cDNA assayed by microarray slides; 2. identification of candidate marker mRNAs by data analysis, which allowed selection of only 10 putative differentially expressed genes; 3. Selection of some of the most suitable mRNAs (TMEM69, RANBP3 and PRSS22) that were assayed in blood samples from normal subjects and patients with colon cancer as possible markers for the presence of epithelial cells in the blood, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS Our present results seem to provide an indication, for the first time obtained by genome-scale screening, that a suitable and consistent colon epithelium mRNA marker may be difficult to identify. CONCLUSION The design of new approaches to identify such markers is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossella Solmi
- Department of Histology, Embryology and Applied Biology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Giampaolo Ugolini
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Rosati
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Simone Zanotti
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Mattia Lauriola
- Department of Histology, Embryology and Applied Biology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Isacco Montroni
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Marco del Governatore
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Antonello Caira
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Mario Taffurelli
- Department of Surgical and Anesthesiological Sciences-General Surgery, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Donatella Santini
- Department of Pathology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, I-40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Domenico Coppola
- "H.Lee Moffit" Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Lia Guidotti
- Department of Histology, Embryology and Applied Biology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Paolo Carinci
- Department of Histology, Embryology and Applied Biology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Strippoli
- Department of Histology, Embryology and Applied Biology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
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Wang W, Goswami S, Sahai E, Wyckoff JB, Segall JE, Condeelis JS. Tumor cells caught in the act of invading: their strategy for enhanced cell motility. Trends Cell Biol 2005; 15:138-45. [PMID: 15752977 DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2005.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 194] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Invasion of neighboring extracellular matrix tissue, the lymphatic system and blood vessels is a key element of tumor cell metastasis in many epithelial tumors. Understanding the cell motility pathways that contribute to invasion can provide new approaches and targets for anticancer therapy. The recent convergence of technologies for expression profiling and intravital imaging has revealed the identities of some of the genes that contribute to motility and chemotaxis of cancer cells in tumors. In particular, the genes encoding a minimum motility machine are coordinately upregulated in tumor cells collected by an in vivo invasion assay. These results support a "tumor microenvironment invasion model" and provide new target opportunities for cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weigang Wang
- Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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Woelfle U, Breit E, Zafrakas K, Otte M, Schubert F, Müller V, Izbicki JR, Löning T, Pantel K. Bi-specific immunomagnetic enrichment of micrometastatic tumour cell clusters from bone marrow of cancer patients. J Immunol Methods 2005; 300:136-45. [PMID: 15907331 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2005.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2004] [Revised: 02/15/2005] [Accepted: 03/03/2005] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Metastasis-the spread of tumour cells from a primary lesion to distant organs-is the main cause of cancer-related death, and bone marrow (BM) is a frequent site for the settlement of disseminated tumour cells. Many BM samples harbour isolated tumour cells, whereas tumour cell clusters, as the potential precursors of solid distant metastases, are rarely detected after current enrichment procedures. We have analysed BM samples from 43 patients with carcinomas of the breast, colon and ovaries; 41 of these patients had no clinical signs of overt metastases (stage M0). Tumour cells in BM were enriched with immunomagnetic beads coupled to monoclonal antibodies against both EpCAM and HER2/neu. After enrichment, tumour cells were identified by immunostaining with the anti-cytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3. In total, 886 CK-positive cells were detected in 16 (35%) samples after immunomagnetic enrichment as compared to 34 cells in 9 (21%) samples using Ficoll density centrifugation previously used as the standard enrichment technique. Most remarkably, clusters of 2 to 10 CK-positive cells were found in 75% of CK-positive samples enriched by immunobeads, whereas no CK-positive cell clusters were detected after Ficoll enrichment. The method described offers an excellent tool for the enrichment of micrometastatic tumour cell clusters; these clusters may represent the initial stage of development from a single disseminated tumour cell towards an overt metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ute Woelfle
- Institute of Tumour Biology, Center of Experimental Medicine, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
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Woelfle U, Breit E, Pantel K. Influence of immunomagnetic enrichment on gene expression of tumor cells. J Transl Med 2005; 3:12. [PMID: 15771776 PMCID: PMC555956 DOI: 10.1186/1479-5876-3-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2004] [Accepted: 03/16/2005] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Bone marrow (BM) is a frequent site for the settlement of disseminated tumor cells which occurs years before overt metastases signal incurability. Methods Here we describe a new method to assess the initial stage of metastasis development in cancer patients. By immunomagnetic selection with HER2/neu and EpCAM as catcher antigens single disseminated tumor cells can be enriched from BM samples. To examine whether the immunomagnetic enrichment technique may change gene expression in the selected tumor cells, we performed differential expression profiling with the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and BT474 as models. The profiles were performed using 1.2 Cancer Arrays (Clontech) containing 1176 cDNAs that can be grouped into different functional categories, such as signal transduction, cell cycle, adhesion, cytoskeleton plasticity, growth factors and others. Results The reproducibility of the gene expression profiling between duplicate cDNA-array experiments was assessed by two independent experiments with MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Scatter blot analysis revealed a good reproducibility of the cDNA array analysis (i.e. less than 10% difference in the gene expression between the arrays). Subsequent comparative cDNA-array analyses of immunobead-selected and unselected MCF-7 and BT474 cancer cells indicated that the antibody incubation during the immunomagnetic selection procedure did not considerably alter the gene expression profile. Conclusion The described method offers an excellent tool for the enrichment of micrometastatic tumor cells in BM without largely changing the gene expression pattern of these cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ute Woelfle
- Institute of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Breit
- Institute of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Klaus Pantel
- Institute of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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Wang W, Goswami S, Lapidus K, Wells AL, Wyckoff JB, Sahai E, Singer RH, Segall JE, Condeelis JS. Identification and testing of a gene expression signature of invasive carcinoma cells within primary mammary tumors. Cancer Res 2005; 64:8585-94. [PMID: 15574765 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-04-1136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 336] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We subjected cells collected using an in vivo invasion assay to cDNA microarray analysis to identify the gene expression profile of invasive carcinoma cells in primary mammary tumors. Expression of genes involved in cell division, survival, and cell motility were most dramatically changed in invasive cells indicating a population that is neither dividing nor apoptotic but intensely motile. In particular, the genes coding for the minimum motility machine that regulates beta-actin polymerization at the leading edge and, therefore, the motility and chemotaxis of carcinoma cells, were dramatically up-regulated. However, ZBP1, which restricts the localization of beta-actin, the substrate for the minimum motility machine, was down-regulated. This pattern of expression implicated ZBP1 as a suppressor of invasion. Reexpression of ZBP1 in metastatic cells with otherwise low levels of ZBP1 reestablished normal patterns of beta-actin mRNA targeting and suppressed chemotaxis and invasion in primary tumors. ZBP1 reexpression also inhibited metastasis from tumors. These experiments support the involvement in metastasis of the pathways identified in invasive cells, which are regulated by ZBP1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weigang Wang
- Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA.
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Choesmel V, Anract P, Høifødt H, Thiery JP, Blin N. A relevant immunomagnetic assay to detect and characterize epithelial cell adhesion molecule-positive cells in bone marrow from patients with breast carcinoma: immunomagnetic purification of micrometastases. Cancer 2004; 101:693-703. [PMID: 15305398 DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The efficient detection and characterization of micrometastatic cells in the bone marrow of patients with breast carcinoma are of prognostic and therapeutic importance. The technique used must overcome the challenges that result from the small number of target cells (1 per 1 million hematopoietic cells) and the heterogeneous expression of micrometastatic cell markers. In this study, the authors assessed and improved the current methods for purifying and characterizing rare disseminated carcinoma cells. METHODS The authors developed a single-step assay that does not require density-gradient separation. This assay can be performed directly on crude human bone marrow aspirates and is based on the use of immunomagnetic beads coated with an antibody that recognizes an epithelial cell-surface epitope, the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). To determine the specificity of the assay, the authors evaluated bone marrow specimens from 46 control patients. RESULTS The novel method was highly reproducible and was capable of detecting as few as 10 carcinoma cells among 50 million hematopoietic cells. The yield was nearly 100%, with only 0.01% nonspecific cell draining. The authors found that 68 +/- 51 cells were trapped per 50 million cells in control crude aspirates and that density-gradient separation increased this number by 2-fold to 29-fold. These trapped cells expressed EpCAM, represented 1.4 x 10(-4) % of the sample, and were characterized as of hematopoietic cell origin (CD45 positive) or progenitor cell origin (CD34 positive). CONCLUSIONS The authors developed a highly efficient and reproducible, single-step immunomagnetic assay that may be performed directly on crude human bone marrow aspirates. The authors believe the current study is the first to demonstrate that some rare bone marrow cells (CD45-positive or CD34-positive cells) may express EpCAM and, to some extent, may contaminate the purified micrometastatic cell fraction. Thus, a universal marker for micrometastatic cells remains to be discovered.
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Choesmel V, Pierga JY, Nos C, Vincent-Salomon A, Sigal-Zafrani B, Thiery JP, Blin N. Enrichment methods to detect bone marrow micrometastases in breast carcinoma patients: clinical relevance. Breast Cancer Res 2004; 6:R556-70. [PMID: 15318937 PMCID: PMC549166 DOI: 10.1186/bcr898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2004] [Revised: 05/14/2004] [Accepted: 05/25/2004] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Improving technologies for the detection and purification of bone marrow (BM) micrometastatic cells in breast cancer patients should lead to earlier prognosis of the risk of relapse and should make it possible to design more appropriate therapies. The technique used has to overcome the challenges resulting from the small number of target cells (one per million hematopoietic cells) and the heterogeneous expression of micrometastatic cell markers. In the present study, we have assessed the clinical relevance of current methods aimed at detecting rare disseminated carcinoma cells. Methods BM aspirates from 32 carcinoma patients were screened for the presence of micrometastatic cells positive for epithelial cell adhesion molecule and positive for cytokeratins, using optimized immunodetection methods. A comparison with data obtained for 46 control BM aspirates and a correlation with the clinical status of patients were performed. Results We developed a sensitive and efficient immunomagnetic protocol for the enrichment of BM micrometastases. This method was used to divide 32 breast carcinoma patients into three categories according to their epithelial cell adhesion molecule status. These categories were highly correlated with the recently revised American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for breast cancer, demonstrating the clinical relevance of this simple and reliable immunomagnetic technique. We also evaluated immunocytochemical detection of cytokeratin-positive cells and cytomorphological parameters. Immunocytochemistry-based methods for the detection of BM micrometastases did not provide any information about the clinical status of patients, but helped to refine the immunomagnetic data by confirming the presence of micrometastases in some cases. We also tested a new density gradient centrifugation system, able to enrich the tumor fraction of BM specimens by twofold to threefold as compared with standard Ficoll methods. Conclusion These improved methods for the detection of micrometastatic cells in patient BM should help clinicians to predict the clinical status of breast cancer patients at the time of surgery or treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jean-Yves Pierga
- Medical Oncology Department, Medical Division, Institut Curie, Paris, France
| | - Claude Nos
- Surgery Department, Medical Division, Institut Curie, Paris, France
| | | | - Brigitte Sigal-Zafrani
- Tumor Biology Department, Medical Division, Institut Curie, Paris, France
- On behalf of the Institut Curie Breast Cancer Group
| | | | - Nathalie Blin
- UMR144 CNRS, Research Division, Institut Curie, Paris, France
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Radvanyi L. Discovery and immunologic validation of new antigens for therapeutic cancer vaccines. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2004; 133:179-97. [PMID: 14764946 DOI: 10.1159/000076625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunotherapy using both active and passive approaches is increasingly being used as a modality to treat human cancer. The last decade has seen a tremendous burst of activity in antigen discovery in cancer, and many new targets have now been identified for both monoclonal antibody therapy and active immunization. In addition, advances have been made in our understanding of the immune response against cancer and how new vaccine vectors, such as poxviruses, alphaviruses and bacterial vectors, can be used to overcome some of the traditional hurdles (e.g. self-tolerance and immune suppression in cancer patients) that have hindered the generation of effective antitumor immune responses. Improvements in genomics technology in the area of DNA microarrays and differential display and subtractive hybridization together with a new wave of mass spectrometry-based proteomics tools, as well as more sensitive assays to validate the immunoreactivity of new antigens, have all accelerated the rate of new antigen discovery in cancer. This rapid progress should initiate a major paradigm shift in how we treat cancer within the next 10 years, where, instead of being a novelty, the combination of targeted T cell-based vaccines and antiangiogenesis therapies will be routinely combined with traditional chemotherapy. The successful combination of these approaches will change the face of cancer from a relatively acute, life-threatening disease to a manageable chronic disorder with long survival times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laszlo Radvanyi
- Immunology Platform, Aventis Pasteur Canada, Toronto, Ont, Canada.
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Zhang J, Shen KW, Liu G, Zhou J, Shen Q, Shen ZZ, Shao ZM. Antigenic profiles of disseminated breast tumour cells and microenvironment in bone marrow. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY 2003; 29:121-6. [PMID: 12633553 DOI: 10.1053/ejso.2002.1334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Thirty per cent of breast cancer patients with axillary lymph node negative at primary surgery will relapse within 10 years. This may be caused by disseminated tumour cells from the primary tumour. This study report the phenotypic profiles of disseminated tumour cells and microenvironmental characteristics in bone marrow of breast cancer. METHODS We detected the biologic markers on the disseminated tumour cells with immunocytochemical staining, analysed the immunological changes through flow-cytometry, and investigated the u- PA activity in the plasma of bone marrow. RESULTS With the immunocytochemical staining of EMA and CK19, we detected micrometastasis in thirty out of 72 (41.67%) breast cancer patients. Compared with the primary tumours, disseminated tumour cells expressed low protein cyclin D1, P53, Ki-67, EGFR, and high protein P21. The percentage of memory CD4+ T cells was significantly higher in the micrometastasis-positive group than in the micrometastasis-negative group. Tumour size and axillary lymph node status were found to be significantly correlated with the u- PA activity level. CONCLUSIONS Immunophenotypic profiles of disseminated tumour cells could be measured by immunocytochemical staining and microenvironment can be analysed by flow cytometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Zhang
- Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Hospital/Cancer Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, P R China
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