Division of Vascular Oncology and Metastasis, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance), Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Vascular Biology and Tumor Angiogenesis (CBTM), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
J Clin Invest. 2018 Feb 1;128(2):834-845. doi: 10.1172/JCI94674. Epub 2018 Jan 22.
The endothelial tyrosine kinase receptor Tie1 remains poorly characterized, largely owing to its orphan receptor status. Global Tie1 inactivation causes late embryonic lethality, thereby reflecting its importance during development. Tie1 also plays pivotal roles during pathologies such as atherosclerosis and tumorigenesis. In order to study the contribution of Tie1 to tumor progression and metastasis, we conditionally deleted Tie1 in endothelial cells at different stages of tumor growth and metastatic dissemination. Tie1 deletion during primary tumor growth in mice led to a decrease in microvessel density and an increase in mural cell coverage with improved vessel perfusion. Reduced angiogenesis and enhanced vascular normalization resulted in a progressive increase of intratumoral necrosis that caused a growth delay only at later stages of tumor progression. Concomitantly, surgical removal of the primary tumor decreased the number of circulating tumor cells, reduced metastasis, and prolonged overall survival. Additionally, Tie1 deletion in experimental murine metastasis models prevented extravasation of tumor cells into the lungs and reduced metastatic foci. Taken together, the data support Tie1 as a therapeutic target by defining its regulatory functions during angiogenesis and vascular abnormalization and identifying its role during metastasis.
内皮酪氨酸激酶受体 Tie1 的特性仍未得到充分描述,主要是因为它是孤儿受体。Tie1 的全局失活会导致胚胎晚期致死,从而反映了它在发育过程中的重要性。Tie1 在动脉粥样硬化和肿瘤发生等病理过程中也起着关键作用。为了研究 Tie1 对肿瘤进展和转移的贡献,我们在肿瘤生长和转移扩散的不同阶段条件性地删除了内皮细胞中的 Tie1。在小鼠原发性肿瘤生长过程中删除 Tie1 会导致微血管密度降低,壁细胞覆盖率增加,血管灌注得到改善。血管生成减少和血管正常化增强导致肿瘤内坏死逐渐增加,仅在肿瘤进展的后期才导致生长延迟。同时,原发性肿瘤的手术切除减少了循环肿瘤细胞的数量,降低了转移的风险,并延长了总生存期。此外,在实验性小鼠转移模型中删除 Tie1 可防止肿瘤细胞渗出到肺部并减少转移灶。总之,这些数据支持 Tie1 作为一种治疗靶点,确定了其在血管生成和血管异常中的调节功能,并确定了其在转移过程中的作用。