Katkoori Venkat R, Basson Marc D, Bond Vincent C, Manne Upender, Bumpers Harvey L
Department of Surgery, Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Lansing, MI, USA.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Oncotarget. 2015 Sep 29;6(29):27763-77. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.4615.
The Nef-M1 peptide competes effectively with the natural ligand of CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), stromal cell-derived factor 1-alpha, to induce apoptosis and inhibit growth in colon cancer (CRC) and breast cancer (BC). Its role in tumor angiogenesis, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulation, key steps involved in tumor growth and metastasis, are unknown. We evaluated the angioinhibitory effect of Nef-M1 peptide and examined its role in the inhibition of EMT in these cancers. Colon (HT29) and breast (MDA-MB231) cancer cells expressing CXCR4 were studied in vitro and in xenograft tumors propagated in severe combined immunodeficient mice. The mice were treated intraperitoneally with Nef-M1 or scrambled amino acid sequence of Nef-M1 (sNef-M1) peptide, a negative control, starting at the time of tumor implantation. Sections from tumors were evaluated for tumor angiogenesis, as measured by microvessel density (MVD) based on immunostaining of endothelial markers. In vitro tumor angiogenesis was assessed by treating human umbilical vein endothelial cells with conditioned media from the tumor cell lines. A BC cell line (MDA-MB 468) which does not express CXCR4 was used to study the actions of Nef-M1 peptide. Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses assessed the effect of Nef-M1 on tumor angiogenesis and EMT in both tumors and cancer cells. Metastatic lesions of CRC and BC expressed more CXCR4 than primary lesions. It was also found that tumors from mice treated with sNef-M1 had well established vascularity, while Nef-M1 treated tumors had very poor vascularization. Indeed, the mean MVD was lower in tumors from Nef-M1 treated mice than in sNef-M1 treated tumors. Nef-M1 treated tumor has poor morphology and loss of endothelial integrity. Although conditioned medium from CRC or BC cells supported HUVEC tube formation, the conditioned medium from Nef-M1 treated CRC or BC cells did not support tube formation. Western blot analyses revealed that Nef-M1 effectively suppressed the expression of VEGF-A in CRC and BC cells and tumors. This suggests that Nef-M1 treated CRC and BC cells are more consistent with E-cadherin signature, and thus appears more epithelial in nature. Our data indicate that Nef-M1 peptide inhibits tumor angiogenesis and the oncogenic EMT process. Targeting the chemokine receptor, CXCR4, mediated pathways using Nef-M1 may prove to be a novel therapeutic approach for CRC and BC.
Nef-M1肽能有效与CXC趋化因子受体4(CXCR4)的天然配体基质细胞衍生因子1α竞争,从而诱导结肠癌(CRC)和乳腺癌(BC)细胞凋亡并抑制其生长。其在肿瘤血管生成以及上皮-间质转化(EMT)调控(肿瘤生长和转移的关键步骤)中的作用尚不清楚。我们评估了Nef-M1肽的血管生成抑制作用,并研究了其在这些癌症中对EMT抑制的作用。对表达CXCR4的结肠癌细胞(HT29)和乳腺癌细胞(MDA-MB231)进行了体外研究,并在严重联合免疫缺陷小鼠体内传代的异种移植肿瘤中进行了研究。从肿瘤植入时开始,对小鼠腹腔注射Nef-M1或Nef-M1的 scrambled氨基酸序列(sNef-M1)肽(阴性对照)。通过基于内皮标志物免疫染色的微血管密度(MVD)来评估肿瘤切片的血管生成情况。通过用肿瘤细胞系的条件培养基处理人脐静脉内皮细胞来评估体外肿瘤血管生成。使用不表达CXCR4的乳腺癌细胞系(MDA-MB 468)来研究Nef-M1肽的作用。蛋白质免疫印迹和免疫荧光分析评估了Nef-M1对肿瘤血管生成和EMT在肿瘤及癌细胞中的影响。CRC和BC的转移灶比原发灶表达更多的CXCR4。还发现,用sNef-M1处理的小鼠的肿瘤血管形成良好,而用Nef-M1处理的肿瘤血管化非常差。实际上,Nef-M1处理的小鼠肿瘤的平均MVD低于sNef-M1处理的肿瘤。Nef-M1处理的肿瘤形态不佳且内皮完整性丧失。尽管CRC或BC细胞的条件培养基支持HUVEC管形成,但Nef-M1处理的CRC或BC细胞的条件培养基不支持管形成。蛋白质免疫印迹分析显示,Nef-M1有效抑制了CRC和BC细胞及肿瘤中VEGF-A的表达。这表明Nef-M1处理的CRC和BC细胞更符合E-钙黏蛋白特征,因此在本质上显得更具上皮性。我们的数据表明,Nef-M1肽抑制肿瘤血管生成和致癌性EMT过程。使用Nef-M1靶向趋化因子受体CXCR4介导的途径可能被证明是一种针对CRC和BC的新型治疗方法。