Virrey Jenilyn J, Dong Dezheng, Stiles Caryn, Patterson John B, Pen Ligaya, Ni Min, Schönthal Axel H, Chen Thomas C, Hofman Florence M, Lee Amy S
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9176, USA.
Mol Cancer Res. 2008 Aug;6(8):1268-75. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-08-0060.
The tumor vasculature is essential for tumor growth and survival and is a key target for anticancer therapy. Glioblastoma multiforme, the most malignant form of brain tumor, is highly vascular and contains abnormal vessels, unlike blood vessels in normal brain. Previously, we showed that primary cultures of human brain endothelial cells, derived from blood vessels of malignant glioma tissues (TuBEC), are physiologically and functionally different from endothelial cells derived from nonmalignant brain tissues (BEC) and are substantially more resistant to apoptosis. Resistance of TuBEC to a wide range of current anticancer drugs has significant clinical consequences as it represents a major obstacle toward eradication of residual brain tumor. We report here that the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone GRP78/BiP is generally highly elevated in the vasculature derived from human glioma specimens, both in situ in tissue and in vitro in primary cell cultures, compared with minimal GRP78 expression in normal brain tissues and blood vessels. Interestingly, TuBEC constitutively overexpress GRP78 without concomitant induction of other major unfolded protein response targets. Resistance of TuBEC to chemotherapeutic agents such as CPT-11, etoposide, and temozolomide can be overcome by knockdown of GRP78 using small interfering RNA or chemical inhibition of its catalytic site. Conversely, overexpression of GRP78 in BEC rendered these cells resistant to drug treatments. Our findings provide the proof of principle that targeting GRP78 will sensitize the tumor vasculature to chemotherapeutic drugs, thus enhancing the efficacy of these drugs in combination therapy for glioma treatment.
肿瘤血管系统对于肿瘤的生长和存活至关重要,是抗癌治疗的关键靶点。多形性胶质母细胞瘤是脑肿瘤最恶性的形式,血管高度丰富且含有异常血管,与正常脑组织中的血管不同。此前,我们发现源自恶性胶质瘤组织血管的人脑内皮细胞原代培养物(TuBEC)在生理和功能上与源自非恶性脑组织的内皮细胞(BEC)不同,并且对凋亡具有更强的抗性。TuBEC对多种当前抗癌药物的抗性具有重大临床意义,因为它是根除残留脑肿瘤的主要障碍。我们在此报告,与正常脑组织和血管中极低的GRP78表达相比,内质网伴侣GRP78/BiP在源自人类胶质瘤标本的血管系统中普遍高度升高,无论是在组织原位还是在原代细胞培养的体外环境中。有趣的是,TuBEC组成性地过度表达GRP78,而不会同时诱导其他主要的未折叠蛋白反应靶点。使用小干扰RNA敲低GRP78或化学抑制其催化位点可克服TuBEC对化疗药物如CPT-11、依托泊苷和替莫唑胺的抗性。相反,在BEC中过表达GRP78使这些细胞对药物治疗产生抗性。我们的研究结果提供了原理证明,即靶向GRP78将使肿瘤血管系统对化疗药物敏感,从而提高这些药物在联合治疗胶质瘤中的疗效。