1
|
Nuckhir M, Withey D, Cabral S, Harrison H, Clarke RB. State of the Art Modelling of the Breast Cancer Metastatic Microenvironment: Where Are We? J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2024; 29:14. [PMID: 39012440 PMCID: PMC11252219 DOI: 10.1007/s10911-024-09567-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Metastatic spread of tumour cells to tissues and organs around the body is the most frequent cause of death from breast cancer. This has been modelled mainly using mouse models such as syngeneic mammary cancer or human in mouse xenograft models. These have limitations for modelling human disease progression and cannot easily be used for investigation of drug resistance and novel therapy screening. To complement these approaches, advances are being made in ex vivo and 3D in vitro models, which are becoming progressively better at reliably replicating the tumour microenvironment and will in the future facilitate drug development and screening. These approaches include microfluidics, organ-on-a-chip and use of advanced biomaterials. The relevant tissues to be modelled include those that are frequent and clinically important sites of metastasis such as bone, lung, brain, liver for invasive ductal carcinomas and a distinct set of common metastatic sites for lobular breast cancer. These sites all have challenges to model due to their unique cellular compositions, structure and complexity. The models, particularly in vivo, provide key information on the intricate interactions between cancer cells and the native tissue, and will guide us in producing specific therapies that are helpful in different context of metastasis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mia Nuckhir
- Breast Biology Group, Manchester Breast Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4GJ, UK
| | - David Withey
- Breast Biology Group, Manchester Breast Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4GJ, UK
| | - Sara Cabral
- Breast Biology Group, Manchester Breast Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4GJ, UK
| | - Hannah Harrison
- Breast Biology Group, Manchester Breast Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4GJ, UK.
| | - Robert B Clarke
- Breast Biology Group, Manchester Breast Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4GJ, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dai B, Clark AM, Wells A. Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Secreted Exosomes and Soluble Signals Regulate Breast Cancer Metastatic Dormancy: Current Progress and Future Outlook. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:7133. [PMID: 39000239 PMCID: PMC11241820 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Revised: 06/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is most common in women, and in most cases there is no evidence of spread and the primary tumor is removed, resulting in a 'cure'. However, in 10% to 30% of these women, distant metastases recur after years to decades. This is due to breast cancer cells disseminating to distant organs and lying quiescent. This is called metastatic dormancy. Dormant cells are generally resistant to chemotherapy, hormone therapy and immunotherapy as they are non-cycling and receive survival signals from their microenvironment. In this state, they are clinically irrelevant. However, risk factors, including aging and inflammation can awaken dormant cells and cause breast cancer recurrences, which may happen even more than ten years after the primary tumor removal. How these breast cancer cells remain in dormancy is being unraveled. A key element appears to be the mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow that have been shown to promote breast cancer metastatic dormancy in recent studies. Indirect co-culture, direct co-culture and exosome extraction were conducted to investigate the modes of signal operation. Multiple signaling molecules act in this process including both protein factors and microRNAs. We integrate these studies to summarize current findings and gaps in the field and suggest future research directions for this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bei Dai
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; (B.D.); (A.M.C.)
- R&D Service, Pittsburgh VA Health System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Amanda M. Clark
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; (B.D.); (A.M.C.)
- R&D Service, Pittsburgh VA Health System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Cell Biology Program, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; (B.D.); (A.M.C.)
- R&D Service, Pittsburgh VA Health System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Cell Biology Program, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Richbourg NR, Irakoze N, Kim H, Peyton SR. Outlook and opportunities for engineered environments of breast cancer dormancy. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl0165. [PMID: 38457510 PMCID: PMC10923521 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Dormant, disseminated breast cancer cells resist treatment and may relapse into malignant metastases after decades of quiescence. Identifying how and why these dormant breast cancer cells are triggered into outgrowth is a key unsolved step in treating latent, metastatic breast cancer. However, our understanding of breast cancer dormancy in vivo is limited by technical challenges and ethical concerns with triggering the activation of dormant breast cancer. In vitro models avoid many of these challenges by simulating breast cancer dormancy and activation in well-controlled, bench-top conditions, creating opportunities for fundamental insights into breast cancer biology that complement what can be achieved through animal and clinical studies. In this review, we address clinical and preclinical approaches to treating breast cancer dormancy, how precisely controlled artificial environments reveal key interactions that regulate breast cancer dormancy, and how future generations of biomaterials could answer further questions about breast cancer dormancy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nathan R. Richbourg
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Ninette Irakoze
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Hyuna Kim
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Shelly R. Peyton
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Park S, Choi S, Shimpi AA, Estroff LA, Fischbach C, Paszek MJ. COLLAGEN MINERALIZATION DECREASES NK CELL-MEDIATED CYTOTOXICITY OF BREAST CANCER CELLS VIA INCREASED GLYCOCALYX THICKNESS. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.20.576377. [PMID: 38328161 PMCID: PMC10849468 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.20.576377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Skeletal metastasis is common in patients with advanced breast cancer, and often caused by immune evasion of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). In the skeleton, tumor cells not only disseminate to the bone marrow, but also to osteogenic niches in which they interact with newly mineralizing bone extracellular matrix (ECM). However, it remains unclear how mineralization of collagen type I, the primary component of bone ECM, regulates tumor-immune cell interactions. Here, we have utilized a combination of synthetic bone matrix models with controlled mineral content, nanoscale optical imaging, and flow cytometry to evaluate how collagen type I mineralization affects the biochemical and biophysical properties of the tumor cell glycocalyx, a dense layer of glycosylated proteins and lipids decorating their cell surface. Our results suggest that collagen mineralization upregulates mucin-type O-glycosylation and sialylation by tumor cells, which increased their glycocalyx thickness while enhancing resistance to attack by Natural Killer (NK) cells. These changes were functionally linked as treatment with a sialylation inhibitor decreased mineralization-dependent glycocalyx thickness and made tumor cells more susceptible to NK cell attack. Together, our results suggest that interference with glycocalyx sialylation may represent a therapeutic strategy to enhance cancer immunotherapies targeting bone-metastatic breast cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sangwoo Park
- Graduate Field of Biophysics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Siyoung Choi
- Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Adrian A. Shimpi
- Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Lara A. Estroff
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
- Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Claudia Fischbach
- Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Matthew J. Paszek
- Graduate Field of Biophysics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Lamouline A, Bersini S, Moretti M. In vitro models of breast cancer bone metastasis: analyzing drug resistance through the lens of the microenvironment. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1135401. [PMID: 37182144 PMCID: PMC10168004 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1135401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Even though breast cancers usually have a good outcome compared to other tumors, the cancer can progress and create metastases in different parts of the organism, the bone being a predilection locus. These metastases are usually the cause of death, as they are mostly resistant to treatments. This resistance can be caused by intrinsic properties of the tumor, such as its heterogeneity, but it can also be due to the protective role of the microenvironment. By activating signaling pathways protecting cancer cells when exposed to chemotherapy, contributing to their ability to reach dormancy, or even reducing the amount of drug able to reach the metastases, among other mechanisms, the specificities of the bone tissue are being investigated as important players of drug resistance. To this date, most mechanisms of this resistance are yet to be discovered, and many researchers are implementing in vitro models to study the interaction between the tumor cells and their microenvironment. Here, we will review what is known about breast cancer drug resistance in bone metastasis due to the microenvironment and we will use those observations to highlight which features in vitro models should include to properly recapitulate these biological aspects in vitro. We will also detail which elements advanced in vitro models should implement in order to better recapitulate in vivo physiopathology and drug resistance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Lamouline
- Regenerative Medicine Technologies Laboratory, Laboratories for Translational Research (LRT), Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC), Bellinzona, Switzerland
- Service of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Surgery, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Simone Bersini
- Regenerative Medicine Technologies Laboratory, Laboratories for Translational Research (LRT), Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC), Bellinzona, Switzerland
- Service of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Surgery, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
- Euler Institute, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Matteo Moretti
- Regenerative Medicine Technologies Laboratory, Laboratories for Translational Research (LRT), Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC), Bellinzona, Switzerland
- Service of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Surgery, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
- Euler Institute, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland
- Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano, Italy
| |
Collapse
|