Matrix metalloproteinase-1 contribution to sarcoma cell invasion

Best Overall Response-Associated Signature to Doxorubicin in Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Transcriptomic Analysis from ANNOUNCE

PURPOSE

This exploratory analysis evaluated the tumor samples of the patients treated with doxorubicin (with or without olaratumab) in a negative phase III ANNOUNCE trial to better understand the complexity of advanced soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and to potentially identify its predictive markers.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

RNA sequencing was performed on pretreatment tumor samples (n = 273) from the ANNOUNCE trial to evaluate response patterns and identify potential predictive treatment markers for doxorubicin. A BOR-associated signature to doxorubicin (REDSARC) was created by evaluating tumors with radiographic response versus progression. An external cohort of doxorubicin-treated patients from the Spanish Group for Research on Sarcomas (GEIS) was used for refinement and validation.

RESULTS

A total of 259 samples from the trial were considered for analysis. Comparative analyses by the treatment arm did not explain the negative trial. However, there was an association between the BOR signature and histologic subtype (χ2P = 2.0e-7) and grade (P = 0.002). There were no associations between the BOR signature and gender, age, ethnicity, or stage. Applied to survival outcomes, REDSARC was also predictive for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Using the GEIS cohort, a refined 25-gene signature was identified and applied to the ANNOUNCE cohort, where it was predictive of PFS and OS in leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, and other sarcoma subtypes, but not in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.

CONCLUSIONS

The refined REDSARC signature provides a potential tool to direct the application of doxorubicin in sarcomas and other malignancies. Validation and further refinement of the signature in other potentially subtype specific prospective cohorts is recommended.

Matrix metalloproteinases participation in the metastatic process and their diagnostic and therapeutic applications in cancer

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) participate from the initial phases of cancer onset to the settlement of a metastatic niche in a second organ. Their role in cancer progression is related to their involvement in the extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and in the regulation and processing of adhesion and cytoskeletal proteins, growth factors, chemokines and cytokines. MMPs participation in cancer progression makes them an attractive target for cancer therapy. MMPs have also been used for theranostic purposes in the detection of primary tumor and metastatic tissue in which a particular MMP is overexpressed, to follow up on therapy responses, and in the activation of cancer cytotoxic pro-drugs as part of nano-delivery-systems that increase drug concentration in a specific tumor target. Herein, we review MMPs molecular characteristics, their synthesis regulation and enzymatic activity, their participation in the metastatic process, and how their functions have been used to improve cancer treatment.

New tricks for human farnesyltransferase inhibitor: cancer and beyond

Human protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) catalyzes the addition of a C15-farnesyl lipid group to the cysteine residue located in the COOH-terminal tetrapeptide motif of a variety of important substrate proteins, including well-known Ras protein superfamily. The farnesylation of Ras protein is required both for its normal physiological function, and for the transforming capacity of its oncogenic mutants. Over the last several decades, FTase inhibitors (FTIs) were developed to disrupt the farnesylation of oncogenic Ras as anti-cancer agents, and some of them have entered cancer clinical investigation. On the other hand, some substrates of FTase were demonstrated to be related with other human diseases, including Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, chronic hepatitis D, and cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we summarize the roles of FTase in malignant transformation, proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis of tumor cells, and the recently anticancer clinical research advances of FTIs. The therapeutic prospect of FTIs on several other human diseases is also discussed.

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: focus on the cancer hallmark of tumor angiogenesis

One of the important 'hallmarks' of cancer is angiogenesis, which is the process of formation of new blood vessels that are necessary for tumor expansion, invasion and metastasis. Under normal physiological conditions, angiogenesis is well balanced and controlled by endogenous proangiogenic factors and antiangiogenic factors. However, factors produced by cancer cells, cancer stem cells and other cell types in the tumor stroma can disrupt the balance so that the tumor microenvironment favors tumor angiogenesis. These factors include vascular endothelial growth factor, endothelial tissue factor and other membrane bound receptors that mediate multiple intracellular signaling pathways that contribute to tumor angiogenesis. Though environmental exposures to certain chemicals have been found to initiate and promote tumor development, the role of these exposures (particularly to low doses of multiple substances), is largely unknown in relation to tumor angiogenesis. This review summarizes the evidence of the role of environmental chemical bioactivity and exposure in tumor angiogenesis and carcinogenesis. We identify a number of ubiquitous (prototypical) chemicals with disruptive potential that may warrant further investigation given their selectivity for high-throughput screening assay targets associated with proangiogenic pathways. We also consider the cross-hallmark relationships of a number of important angiogenic pathway targets with other cancer hallmarks and we make recommendations for future research. Understanding of the role of low-dose exposure of chemicals with disruptive potential could help us refine our approach to cancer risk assessment, and may ultimately aid in preventing cancer by reducing or eliminating exposures to synergistic mixtures of chemicals with carcinogenic potential.

Direct measurement of matrix metalloproteinase activity in 3D cellular microenvironments using a fluorogenic peptide substrate

Incorporation of degradable moieties into synthetic hydrogels has greatly increased the utility of these three-dimensional matrices for in vitro cell culture as well as tissue engineering applications. A common method for introducing degradability is the inclusion of oligopeptides sensitive to cleavage by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), enabling cell-mediated remodeling and migration within the material. While this strategy has been effective, characterization and measurement of cell-mediated degradation in these materials has remained challenging. There are 20+ MMP family members whose activity is regulated in space and time by a number of biochemical and biophysical cues. Thus, the typical approach of characterizing cleavage of degradable moieties in solution with recombinant enzymes does not easily translate to three-dimensional cell-mediated matrix remodeling. To address this challenge, we report here the synthesis of a cell-laden hydrogel matrix functionalized with a fluorogenic peptide substrate to provide real-time, quantitative monitoring of global MMP activity. Using this system, stimulation of MMP activity was observed with growth factor treatment in mammary epithelial cells and compared to classical zymography results. Further, the effect of biophysical cues on MMP activity of human mesenchymal stem cells was also investigated where more rigid hydrogels were observed to increase MMP activity. The regulation of MMP activity by these biochemical and biophysical cues highlights the need for in situ, real-time measurement of hydrogel degradation, and use of these functionalized hydrogels will aid in future rational design of degradable synthetic hydrogels for in vitro cell studies and tissue engineering applications.

The roles of beta-adrenergic receptors in tumorigenesis and the possible use of beta-adrenergic blockers for cancer treatment: possible genetic and cell-signaling mechanisms

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the USA, and the incidence of cancer increases dramatically with age. Beta-adrenergic blockers appear to have a beneficial clinical effect in cancer patients. In this paper, we review the evidence of an association between β-adrenergic blockade and cancer. Genetic studies have provided the opportunity to determine which proteins link β-adrenergic blockade to cancer pathology. In particular, this link involves the major histocompatibility complex class II molecules, the renin-angiotensin system, transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase. Beta-adrenergic blockers also exert anticancer effects through non-genomic factors, including matrix metalloproteinase, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, prostaglandins, cyclooxygenase-2, oxidative stress, and nitric oxide synthase. In conclusion, β-adrenergic blockade may play a beneficial role in cancer treatment. Additional investigations that examine β-adrenergic blockers as cancer therapeutics are required to further elucidate this role.

An novel role of sphingosine kinase-1 (SPHK1) in the invasion and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma

Background

Treatment failure for esophageal carcinoma is frequently due to lymph node metastasis and invasion to neighboring organs. The aim of the present study was to investigate invasion- and metastasis-related genes in esophageal carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.

Methods

A metastasis model using a Matrigel invasion clonal selection approach was employed to establish a highly invasive subline EC9706-P4 from the esophageal carcinoma cell (ESCC) line EC9706. The differentially expressed genes of the subline and the parental cells determined by gene microarrays were further analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blotting.

Results

We identified sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1) as an invasion and metastasis-related gene of esophageal cancer. SPHK1 was overexpressed in the EC9706-P4 subline with high invasive capacity. Among six ESCC lines tested, KYSE2 and KYSE30 cells showed the highest SPHK1 mRNA and protein expressions as well as the most invasive phenotype. By Western blotting, in 7/12 cases (58%), SPHK1 expression was higher in esophageal carcinomas than in the companion normal tissue. In 23/30 cases (76%), SPHK1 protein expression was upregulated in the tumors compared to matched normal tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Esophageal carcinoma tissue microarray analysis indicated that SPHK1 expression correlated with the depth of tumor invasion (P < 0.0001) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.016). By Kaplan-Meier analysis, strong SPHK1 expression was significantly associated with clinical failure (P < 0.01), suggesting the involvement of SPHK1 in aggressiveness of human esophageal carcinoma. SPHK1 overexpression significantly increased the invasiveness of EC9706 cells in vitro and also increased EC9706 cell growth and spontaneous metastasis in vivo, promoting significant increases in tumor growth, tumor burden and spontaneous lung metastasis in nude mice. SPHK1 expression significantly correlated with the expression of many EGFR pathway genes associated with invasion of cancer cells. SPHK1 protein expression also significantly correlated with the phosphorylation of EGFR.

Conclusion

In summary, our data implicate SPHK1 in the metastasis of esophageal cancer. Our study also identified downstream mediators of SPHK1 in esophageal cancer cells that may mediate enhanced malignant behavior, and several of these mediators may be useful as therapeutic targets.