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The Multifaceted Role of Connexins in Tumor Microenvironment Initiation and Maintenance. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12020204. [PMID: 36829482 PMCID: PMC9953436 DOI: 10.3390/biology12020204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Today's research on the processes of carcinogenesis and the vital activity of tumor tissues implies more attention be paid to constituents of the tumor microenvironment and their interactions. These interactions between cells in the tumor microenvironment can be mediated via different types of protein junctions. Connexins are one of the major contributors to intercellular communication. They form the gap junctions responsible for the transfer of ions, metabolites, peptides, miRNA, etc., between neighboring tumor cells as well as between tumor and stromal cells. Connexin hemichannels mediate purinergic signaling and bidirectional molecular transport with the extracellular environment. Additionally, connexins have been reported to localize in tumor-derived exosomes and facilitate the release of their cargo. A large body of evidence implies that the role of connexins in cancer is multifaceted. The pro- or anti-tumorigenic properties of connexins are determined by their abundance, localization, and functionality as well as their channel assembly and non-channel functions. In this review, we have summarized the data on the contribution of connexins to the formation of the tumor microenvironment and to cancer initiation and progression.
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Mahadevan S, Kwong K, Lu M, Kelly E, Chami B, Romin Y, Fujisawa S, Manova K, Moore MAS, Zoellner H. A Novel Cartesian Plot Analysis for Fixed Monolayers That Relates Cell Phenotype to Transfer of Contents between Fibroblasts and Cancer Cells by Cell-Projection Pumping. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23147949. [PMID: 35887295 PMCID: PMC9316567 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
We recently described cell-projection pumping as a mechanism transferring cytoplasm between cells. The uptake of fibroblast cytoplasm by co-cultured SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cells changes SAOS-2 morphology and increases cell migration and proliferation, as seen by single-cell tracking and in FACS separated SAOS-2 from co-cultures. Morphological changes in SAOS-2 seen by single cell tracking are consistent with previous observations in fixed monolayers of SAOS-2 co-cultures. Notably, earlier studies with fixed co-cultures were limited by the absence of a quantitative method for identifying sub-populations of co-cultured cells, or for quantitating transfer relative to control populations of SAOS-2 or fibroblasts cultured alone. We now overcome that limitation by a novel Cartesian plot analysis that identifies individual co-cultured cells as belonging to one of five distinct cell populations, and also gives numerical measure of similarity to control cell populations. We verified the utility of the method by first confirming the previously established relationship between SAOS-2 morphology and uptake of fibroblast contents, and also demonstrated similar effects in other cancer cell lines including from melanomas, and cancers of the ovary and colon. The method was extended to examine global DNA methylation, and while there was no clear effect on SAOS-2 DNA methylation, co-cultured fibroblasts had greatly reduced DNA methylation, similar to cancer associated fibroblasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swarna Mahadevan
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
| | - Kenelm Kwong
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
| | - Mingjie Lu
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
| | - Elizabeth Kelly
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
| | - Belal Chami
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
- The School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Yevgeniy Romin
- Molecular Cytology, The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 415-417 E 68 Street, ZRC 1962, New York, NY 10065, USA; (Y.R.); (S.F.); (K.M.)
| | - Sho Fujisawa
- Molecular Cytology, The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 415-417 E 68 Street, ZRC 1962, New York, NY 10065, USA; (Y.R.); (S.F.); (K.M.)
| | - Katia Manova
- Molecular Cytology, The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 415-417 E 68 Street, ZRC 1962, New York, NY 10065, USA; (Y.R.); (S.F.); (K.M.)
| | - Malcolm A. S. Moore
- Cell Biology, The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 430 E 67th St, RRL 717, New York, NY 10065, USA;
| | - Hans Zoellner
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (K.K.); (M.L.); (E.K.); (B.C.)
- Cell Biology, The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 430 E 67th St, RRL 717, New York, NY 10065, USA;
- Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of NSW, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
- Strongarch Pty Ltd., Pennant Hills, NSW 2120, Australia
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +61-466400028
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Tunneling Nanotube-Mediated Mitochondrial Transfer Rescues Nucleus Pulposus Cells from Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Apoptosis. OXIDATIVE MEDICINE AND CELLULAR LONGEVITY 2022; 2022:3613319. [PMID: 35281461 PMCID: PMC8916857 DOI: 10.1155/2022/3613319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Stem cell-based therapy has been indicated to be beneficial for intervertebral disc regeneration. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully identified. The present study showed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) donated mitochondria to adjacent nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) in a coculture system. The mode of mitochondrial transfer between these cells was intercellular tunneling nanotube (TNT), which acted as a transportation expressway for mitochondria. NPCs acquired additional mitochondria from BMSCs in a concentration-dependent manner after rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in NPCs. Further research demonstrated that TNT-mediated mitochondrial transfer rescued NPCs from mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis, which was indicated by the recovery of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, the increase in mitochondrial membrane potential, and the decreases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and apoptosis rates. Furthermore, Miro1, a critical protein that regulates mitochondrial movement, was knocked down in BMSCs and significantly reduced mitochondrial transfer from BMSCs to NPCs. These results suggested that Miro1 depletion inhibited the rescue of NPCs with mitochondrial dysfunction. Taken together, our data shed light on a novel mechanism by which BMSCs rescue impaired NPCs, providing a concrete foundation to study the critical role of intercellular interactions in disc regeneration.
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Mahadevan S, Cornwell JA, Chami B, Kelly E, Zoellner H. Cell-Projection Pumping of Fibroblast Contents into Osteosarcoma SAOS-2 Cells Correlates with Increased SAOS-2 Proliferation and Migration, as well as Altered Morphology. Biomolecules 2021; 11:1875. [PMID: 34944519 PMCID: PMC8699393 DOI: 10.3390/biom11121875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
We earlier reported that cell-projection pumping transfers fibroblast contents to cancer cells and this alters the cancer cell phenotype. Here, we report on single-cell tracking of time lapse recordings from co-cultured fluorescent fibroblasts and SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cells, tracking 5201 cells across 7 experiments. The fluorescent lipophilic marker DiD was used to label fibroblast organelles and to trace the transfer of fibroblast cytoplasm into SAOS-2 cells. We related SAOS-2 phenotypic change to levels of fluorescence transfer from fibroblasts to SAOS-2 cells, as well as what we term 'compensated fluorescence', that numerically projects mother cell fluorescence post-mitosis into daughter cells. The comparison of absolute with compensated fluorescence allowed us to deduct if the phenotypic effects in mother SAOS-2 cells were inherited by their daughters. SAOS-2 receipt of fibroblast fluorescence correlated by Kendall's tau with cell-profile area and without evidence of persistence in daughter cells (median tau = 0.51, p < 0.016); negatively and weakly with cell circularity and with evidence of persistence (median tau = -0.19, p < 0.05); and very weakly with cell migration velocity and without evidence of persistence (median tau = 0.01, p < 0.016). In addition, mitotic SAOS-2 cells had higher rates of prior fluorescence uptake (median = 64.9 units/day) than non-dividing cells (median = 35.6 units/day, p < 0.016) and there was no evidence of persistence post-mitosis. We conclude that there was an appreciable impact of cell-projection pumping on cancer cell phenotype relevant to cancer histopathological diagnosis, clinical spread and growth, with most effects being 'reset' by cancer cell mitosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swarna Mahadevan
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (J.A.C.); (B.C.); (E.K.)
| | - James A Cornwell
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (J.A.C.); (B.C.); (E.K.)
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Belal Chami
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (J.A.C.); (B.C.); (E.K.)
- Molecular Biomedicine, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Kelly
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (J.A.C.); (B.C.); (E.K.)
| | - Hans Zoellner
- The Cellular and Molecular Pathology Research Unit, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia; (S.M.); (J.A.C.); (B.C.); (E.K.)
- Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Strongarch Pty Ltd., Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
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