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VanderVorst K, Dreyer CA, Hatakeyama J, Bell GRR, Learn JA, Berg AL, Hernandez M, Lee H, Collins SR, Carraway KL. Vangl-dependent Wnt/planar cell polarity signaling mediates collective breast carcinoma motility and distant metastasis. Breast Cancer Res 2023; 25:52. [PMID: 37147680 PMCID: PMC10163820 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-023-01651-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In light of the growing appreciation for the role of collective cell motility in metastasis, a deeper understanding of the underlying signaling pathways will be critical to translating these observations to the treatment of advanced cancers. Here, we examine the contribution of Wnt/planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP), one of the non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways and defined by the involvement of the tetraspanin-like proteins Vangl1 and Vangl2, to breast tumor cell motility, collective cell invasiveness and mammary tumor metastasis. METHODS Vangl1 and Vangl2 knockdown and overexpression and Wnt5a stimulation were employed to manipulate Wnt/PCP signaling in a battery of breast cancer cell lines representing all breast cancer subtypes, and in tumor organoids from MMTV-PyMT mice. Cell migration was assessed by scratch and organoid invasion assays, Vangl protein subcellular localization was assessed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, and RhoA activation was assessed in real time by fluorescence imaging with an advanced FRET biosensor. The impact of Wnt/PCP suppression on mammary tumor growth and metastasis was assessed by determining the effect of conditional Vangl2 knockout on the MMTV-NDL mouse mammary tumor model. RESULTS We observed that Vangl2 knockdown suppresses the motility of all breast cancer cell lines examined, and overexpression drives the invasiveness of collectively migrating MMTV-PyMT organoids. Vangl2-dependent RhoA activity is localized in real time to a subpopulation of motile leader cells displaying a hyper-protrusive leading edge, Vangl protein is localized to leader cell protrusions within leader cells, and actin cytoskeletal regulator RhoA is preferentially activated in the leader cells of a migrating collective. Mammary gland-specific knockout of Vangl2 results in a striking decrease in lung metastases in MMTV-NDL mice, but does not impact primary tumor growth characteristics. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that Vangl-dependent Wnt/PCP signaling promotes breast cancer collective cell migration independent of breast tumor subtype and facilitates distant metastasis in a genetically engineered mouse model of breast cancer. Our observations are consistent with a model whereby Vangl proteins localized at the leading edge of leader cells in a migrating collective act through RhoA to mediate the cytoskeletal rearrangements required for pro-migratory protrusion formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kacey VanderVorst
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Courtney A Dreyer
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Jason Hatakeyama
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - George R R Bell
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Julie A Learn
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Anastasia L Berg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Maria Hernandez
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Hyun Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Sean R Collins
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Kermit L Carraway
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA.
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Buttenschön A, Edelstein-Keshet L. Cell Repolarization: A Bifurcation Study of Spatio-Temporal Perturbations of Polar Cells. Bull Math Biol 2022; 84:114. [PMID: 36058957 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-022-01053-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The intrinsic polarity of migrating cells is regulated by spatial distributions of protein activity. Those proteins (Rho-family GTPases, such as Rac and Rho) redistribute in response to stimuli, determining the cell front and back. Reaction-diffusion equations with mass conservation and positive feedback have been used to explain initial polarization of a cell. However, the sensitivity of a polar cell to a reversal stimulus has not yet been fully understood. We carry out a PDE bifurcation analysis of two polarity models to investigate routes to repolarization: (1) a single-GTPase ("wave-pinning") model and (2) a mutually antagonistic Rac-Rho model. We find distinct routes to reversal in (1) vs. (2). We show numerical simulations of full PDE solutions for the RD equations, demonstrating agreement with predictions of the bifurcation results. Finally, we show that simulations of the polarity models in deforming 1D model cells are consistent with biological experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Buttenschön
- Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada.
| | - Leah Edelstein-Keshet
- Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada
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Brunetti RM, Kockelkoren G, Raghavan P, Bell GR, Britain D, Puri N, Collins SR, Leonetti MD, Stamou D, Weiner OD. WASP integrates substrate topology and cell polarity to guide neutrophil migration. J Cell Biol 2022; 221:e202104046. [PMID: 34964841 PMCID: PMC8719638 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202104046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
To control their movement, cells need to coordinate actin assembly with the geometric features of their substrate. Here, we uncover a role for the actin regulator WASP in the 3D migration of neutrophils. We show that WASP responds to substrate topology by enriching to sites of inward, substrate-induced membrane deformation. Superresolution imaging reveals that WASP preferentially enriches to the necks of these substrate-induced invaginations, a distribution that could support substrate pinching. WASP facilitates recruitment of the Arp2/3 complex to these sites, stimulating local actin assembly that couples substrate features with the cytoskeleton. Surprisingly, WASP only enriches to membrane deformations in the front half of the cell, within a permissive zone set by WASP's front-biased regulator Cdc42. While WASP KO cells exhibit relatively normal migration on flat substrates, they are defective at topology-directed migration. Our data suggest that WASP integrates substrate topology with cell polarity by selectively polymerizing actin around substrate-induced membrane deformations in the front half of the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M. Brunetti
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Center for Geometrically Engineered Cellular Membranes, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Gabriele Kockelkoren
- Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Center for Geometrically Engineered Cellular Membranes, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Preethi Raghavan
- University of California, Berkeley–University of California, San Francisco Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA
| | - George R.R. Bell
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
| | - Derek Britain
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Center for Geometrically Engineered Cellular Membranes, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Natasha Puri
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Sean R. Collins
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
| | | | - Dimitrios Stamou
- Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Center for Geometrically Engineered Cellular Membranes, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Orion D. Weiner
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Center for Geometrically Engineered Cellular Membranes, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
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