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Phenotypic Plasticity in Circulating Tumor Cells Is Associated with Poor Response to Therapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15051616. [PMID: 36900406 PMCID: PMC10000974 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15051616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are indicators of metastatic spread and progression. In a longitudinal, single-center trial of patients with metastatic breast cancer starting a new line of treatment, a microcavity array was used to enrich CTCs from 184 patients at up to 9 timepoints at 3-month intervals. CTCs were analyzed in parallel samples from the same blood draw by imaging and by gene expression profiling to capture CTC phenotypic plasticity. Enumeration of CTCs by image analysis relying primarily on epithelial markers from samples obtained before therapy or at 3-month follow-up identified the patients at the highest risk of progression. CTC counts decreased with therapy, and progressors had higher CTC counts than non-progressors. CTC count was prognostic primarily at the start of therapy in univariate and multivariate analyses but had less prognostic utility at 6 months to 1 year later. In contrast, gene expression, including both epithelial and mesenchymal markers, identified high-risk patients after 6-9 months of treatment, and progressors had a shift towards mesenchymal CTC gene expression on therapy. Cross-sectional analysis showed higher CTC-related gene expression in progressors 6-15 months after baseline. Furthermore, patients with higher CTC counts and CTC gene expression experienced more progression events. Longitudinal time-dependent multivariate analysis indicated that CTC count, triple-negative status, and CTC expression of FGFR1 significantly correlated with inferior progression-free survival while CTC count and triple-negative status correlated with inferior overall survival. This highlights the utility of protein-agnostic CTC enrichment and multimodality analysis to capture the heterogeneity of CTCs.
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Allelein S, Aerchlimann K, Rösch G, Khajehamiri R, Kölsch A, Freese C, Kuhlmeier D. Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-Positive Extracellular Vesicles in Urine-A Potential Liquid Biopsy Strategy for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis? Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14122987. [PMID: 35740652 PMCID: PMC9221222 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14122987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
All cells release extracellular vesicles (EVs) to communicate with adjacent and distant cells. Consequently, circulating EVs are found in all bodily fluids, providing information applicable for liquid biopsy in early cancer diagnosis. Studies observed an overexpression of the membrane-bound prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) on prostate cancer cells. To investigate whether EVs derived from communicating prostate cells allow for reliable conclusions on prostate cancer development, we isolated PSMA-positive, as well as CD9-positive, EVs from cell-free urine with the use of magnetic beads. These populations of EVs were subsequently compared to CD9-positive EVs isolated from female urine in Western blotting, indicating the successful isolation of prostate-derived and ubiquitous EVs, respectively. Furthermore, we developed a device with an adapted protocol that enables an automated immunomagnetic enrichment of EVs of large sample volumes (up to 10 mL), while simultaneously reducing the overall bead loss and hands-on time. With an in-house spotted antibody microarray, we characterized PSMA as well as other EV surface markers of a prostate cohort of 44 urine samples in a more simplified way. In conclusion, the automated and specific enrichment of EVs from urine has a high potential for future diagnostic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susann Allelein
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (K.A.); (A.K.); (D.K.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Keshia Aerchlimann
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (K.A.); (A.K.); (D.K.)
| | - Gundula Rösch
- Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems (IMM), 55129 Mainz, Germany; (G.R.); (R.K.); (C.F.)
| | - Roxana Khajehamiri
- Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems (IMM), 55129 Mainz, Germany; (G.R.); (R.K.); (C.F.)
| | - Andreas Kölsch
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (K.A.); (A.K.); (D.K.)
| | - Christian Freese
- Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems (IMM), 55129 Mainz, Germany; (G.R.); (R.K.); (C.F.)
| | - Dirk Kuhlmeier
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (K.A.); (A.K.); (D.K.)
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Gül D, Schweitzer A, Khamis A, Knauer SK, Ding GB, Freudelsperger L, Karampinis I, Strieth S, Hagemann J, Stauber RH. Impact of Secretion-Active Osteoblast-Specific Factor 2 in Promoting Progression and Metastasis of Head and Neck Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:2337. [PMID: 35565465 PMCID: PMC9106029 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14092337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Treatment success of head and neck cancer (HNC) is still hampered by tumor relapse due to metastases. Our study aimed to identify biomarkers by exploiting transcriptomics profiles of patient-matched metastases, primary tumors, and normal tissue mucosa as well as the TCGA HNC cohort data sets. Analyses identified osteoblast-specific factor 2 (OSF-2) as significantly overexpressed in lymph node metastases and primary tumors compared to normal tissue. High OSF-2 levels correlate with metastatic disease and reduced overall survival of predominantly HPV-negative HNC patients. No significant correlation was observed with tumor localization or therapy response. These findings were supported by the fact that OSF-2 expression was not elevated in cisplatin-resistant HNC cell lines. OSF-2 was strongly expressed in tumor-associated fibroblasts, suggesting a tumor microenvironment-promoting function. Molecular cloning and expression studies of OSF-2 variants from patients identified an evolutionary conserved bona fide protein secretion signal (1MIPFLPMFSLLLLLIVNPINA21). OSF-2 enhanced cell migration and cellular survival under stress conditions, which could be mimicked by the extracellular administration of recombinant protein. Here, OSF-2 executes its functions via ß1 integrin, resulting in the phosphorylation of PI3K and activation of the Akt/PKB signaling pathway. Collectively, we suggest OSF-2 as a potential prognostic biomarker and drug target, promoting metastases by supporting the tumor microenvironment and lymph node metastases survival rather than by enhancing primary tumor proliferation or therapy resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Désirée Gül
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
| | - Andrea Schweitzer
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
| | - Aya Khamis
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
- Oral Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, El Azareta, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Shirley K. Knauer
- Institute for Molecular Biology, Centre for Medical Biotechnology (ZMB), University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße, 45117 Essen, Germany;
| | - Guo-Bin Ding
- Institute of Biotechnology, The Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China;
| | - Laura Freudelsperger
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
| | - Ioannis Karampinis
- Academic Thoracic Center, University Medical Center Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany;
| | - Sebastian Strieth
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Center Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany;
| | - Jan Hagemann
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
| | - Roland H. Stauber
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Medical Center, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (A.S.); (A.K.); (L.F.); (J.H.)
- Institute of Biotechnology, The Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China;
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