Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Trauma Orthognathic Plastic Surgery, Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Cancer Med. 2024 Feb;13(4):e6940. doi: 10.1002/cam4.6940.
Tumor metastasis is responsible for the high mortality rate of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Although many hypotheses have been proposed to elucidate the mechanism of tumor metastasis, the origin of the metastatic tumor cells remains unclear. In this study, we explored the role of cell fusion in the formation of OSCC metastatic tumor cells.
Murine OSCC tumor cells and macrophages were fused in vitro, and the cell proliferation, migration, and phagocytosis abilities of hybrid cells and parental cells were compared. Subsequently, we compared the transcriptome differences between hybrid and parental cells.
Murine OSCC tumor cells and macrophages were successfully fused in vitro. The cytological and molecular experimental results revealed that OSCC tumor cells obtained a migration-related phenotype after fusion with macrophages, and the migration ability of hybrid cells was related to the activation of the "chemokine signal pathway".
After fusion with macrophages, the chemokine signaling pathway in OSCC tumor cells was activated, leading to metastasis.
肿瘤转移是导致口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）患者死亡率高的原因。尽管已经提出了许多假说来阐明肿瘤转移的机制，但转移瘤细胞的起源仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们探讨了细胞融合在 OSCC 转移瘤细胞形成中的作用。
体外融合小鼠 OSCC 肿瘤细胞和巨噬细胞，比较杂交细胞和亲本细胞的增殖、迁移和吞噬能力。随后，我们比较了杂交细胞和亲本细胞之间的转录组差异。
成功地在体外融合了小鼠 OSCC 肿瘤细胞和巨噬细胞。细胞学和分子实验结果表明，OSCC 肿瘤细胞与巨噬细胞融合后获得了迁移相关表型，并且杂交细胞的迁移能力与“趋化因子信号通路”的激活有关。
与巨噬细胞融合后，OSCC 肿瘤细胞中的趋化因子信号通路被激活，导致转移。
