Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein regulates leukocyte-dependent breast cancer metastasis.

A paracrine interaction between epidermal growth factor (EGF)-secreting tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1)-secreting breast carcinoma cells promotes invasion and metastasis. Here, we show that mice deficient in the hematopoietic-cell-specific Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) are unable to support TAM-dependent carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis in both orthotopic and transgenic models of mammary tumorigenesis. Motility and invasion defects of tumor cells were recapitulated ex vivo upon coculture with WASp(-/-) macrophages. Mechanistically, WASp is required for macrophages to migrate toward CSF-1-producing carcinoma cells, as well as for the release of EGF through metalloprotease-dependent shedding of EGF from the cell surface of macrophages. Our findings suggest that WASp acts to support both the migration of TAMs and the production of EGF, which in concert promote breast tumor metastasis.

Two functional S100A4 monomers are necessary for regulating nonmuscle myosin-IIA and HCT116 cell invasion.

S100A4, a member of the Ca(2+)-activated S100 protein family, regulates the motility and invasiveness of cancer cells. Moreover, high S100A4 expression levels correlate with poor patient survival in several cancers. Although biochemical, biophysical, and structural data indicate that S100A4 is a noncovalent dimer, it is unknown if two functional S100A4 monomers are required for the productive recognition of protein targets and the promotion of cell invasion. To address this question, we created covalently linked S100A4 dimers using a glycine rich flexible linker. The single-chain S100A4 (sc-S100A4) proteins exhibited wild-type affinities for calcium and nonmuscle myosin-IIA, retained the ability to regulate nonmuscle myosin-IIA assembly, and promoted tumor cell invasion when expressed in S100A4-deficient colon carcinoma cells. Mutation of the two calcium-binding EF-hands in one monomer, while leaving the other monomer intact, caused a 30-60-fold reduction in binding affinity for nonmuscle myosin-IIA concomitant with a weakened ability to regulate the monomer-polymer equilibrium of nonmuscle myosin-IIA. Moreover, sc-S100A4 proteins with one monomer deficient in calcium responsiveness did not support S100A4-mediated colon carcinoma cell invasion. Cross-linking and titration data indicate that the S100A4 dimer binds a single myosin-IIA target peptide. These data are consistent with a model in which a single peptide forms interactions in the vicinity of the canonical target binding cleft of each monomer in such a manner that both target binding sites are required for the efficient interaction with myosin-IIA.

Mena invasive (MenaINV) promotes multicellular streaming motility and transendothelial migration in a mouse model of breast cancer.

We have shown previously that distinct Mena isoforms are expressed in invasive and migratory tumor cells in vivo and that the invasion isoform (Mena(INV)) potentiates carcinoma cell metastasis in murine models of breast cancer. However, the specific step of metastatic progression affected by this isoform and the effects on metastasis of the Mena11a isoform, expressed in primary tumor cells, are largely unknown. Here, we provide evidence that elevated Mena(INV) increases coordinated streaming motility, and enhances transendothelial migration and intravasation of tumor cells. We demonstrate that promotion of these early stages of metastasis by Mena(INV) is dependent on a macrophage-tumor cell paracrine loop. Our studies also show that increased Mena11a expression correlates with decreased expression of colony-stimulating factor 1 and a dramatically decreased ability to participate in paracrine-mediated invasion and intravasation. Our results illustrate the importance of paracrine-mediated cell streaming and intravasation on tumor cell dissemination, and demonstrate that the relative abundance of Mena(INV) and Mena11a helps to regulate these key stages of metastatic progression in breast cancer cells.

Differential enhancement of breast cancer cell motility and metastasis by helical and kinase domain mutations of class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase.

Class IA (p85/p110) phosphoinositide 3-kinases play a major role in regulating cell growth, survival, and motility. Activating mutations in the p110alpha isoform of the class IA catalytic subunit (PIK3CA) are commonly found in human cancers. These mutations lead to increased proliferation and transformation in cultured cells, but their effects on cell motility and tumor metastasis have not been evaluated. We used lentiviral-mediated gene transfer and knockdown to produce stable MDA-MB-231 cells in which the endogenous human p110alpha is replaced with either wild-type bovine p110alpha or the two most common activating p110alpha mutants, the helical domain mutant E545K and the kinase domain mutant H1047R. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway was hyperactivated in cells expressing physiologic levels of helical or kinase domain mutants. Cells expressing either mutant showed increased motility in vitro, but only cells expressing the helical domain mutant showed increased directionality in a chemotaxis assay. In severe combined immunodeficient mice, xenograft tumors expressing either mutant showed increased rates of tumor growth compared with tumors expressing wild-type p110alpha. However, tumors expressing the p110alpha helical domain mutant showed a marked increase in both tumor cell intravasation into the blood and tumor cell extravasation into the lung after tail vein injection compared with tumors expressing wild-type p110alpha or the kinase domain mutant. Our observations suggest that, when compared with kinase domain mutations in a genetically identical background, expression of helical domain mutants of p110alpha produce a more severe metastatic phenotype.