Role of the host stroma in cancer and its therapeutic significance.

Current cancer research focuses mainly upon the cancer cells in malignant tumours and is providing a growing database about aberrations in their genetic composition. However, tumours also contain non-cancerous host tissue, referred to as the stroma, which plays an active and indispensable role in tumour growth and influences the virulence of the neoplasm towards the host. Many cell types inhabit the stroma, amidst apparently inert fibrous and viscous matrix material, composed of complex polysaccharides, proteins and other molecules. Actually, all of these elements are in constant turnover, causing unpredictable evolution in the properties of the community. This article provides pathologic observations and data on reciprocal interactions between these stromal and neoplastic components of tumours and how they change during the course of the disease. Malignant progression depends upon dauntingly intricate communications between different specialised lineages within the cellular society, which enable rapid adaptation to changing circumstances. Opportunistic misuse of such communication networks enables tumour cells to recruit and incorporate adjacent normal stroma into their midst, so that they may grow, infiltrate and parasitise the host. The absolute dependency of primary tumours and metastases on their diverse stromal components for survival and their insatiable need to continuously recruit more stroma to support expansion, renders them vulnerable to strategies capable of disrupting the cellular interactions involved. This dependency is of critical importance for cancer therapy research, and proposed methods for turning this parasitic behaviour of tumours against themselves are suggested below.

Update on clinical and mechanistic aspects of paraneoplastic syndromes.

Many patients with cancer are afflicted with an array of severe ailments caused by remote effects of the neoplasm on distant organs, which it has not invaded or colonized. The growing local tumor dominates attention, but invisible chemical and cellular components released by this parasitic neoplastic growth can operate below the threshold of detection to derange feedback loops coordinating essential physiological functions. Ultimately, these changes cause serious signs and symptoms, collectively described as paraneoplastic syndromes (PNSs), which significantly diminish the patient's quality of life. PNS can appear before, or after, detection of the cancer and are sometimes surprising or even bizarre. The patterns of clinical changes seen in these patients are caused by a range of mechanisms that reveal intricate networks of communications between different body systems, normally utilized for healthy function. For example, these disorders demonstrate that (1) hormones, peptides, and other long- and short-range signaling molecules produced by the tumor and (2) immune reactions to tumor-related antigens, can mediate diverse destabilizing effects. However, comparative analysis of numerous PNS reveals valuable information indicating that the primary pathogenetic events instigating these disturbances are much more fundamental. This article provides an overview of the diverse clinical manifestations of paraneoplastic disorders, with representative examples and presents evidence that inappropriate gene expression in the tumor, caused by loss of regulatory control, is a novel unifying explanation for such wide effects of the neoplasm on the host. It also discusses treatment options and issues relating to conducting randomized clinical trials on these disorders.

Inappropriate gene expression in human cancer and its far-reaching biological and clinical significance.

This article provides a broad overview of the field of inappropriate gene expression in many organisms across the animal and plant kingdoms as well as its importance to human disease in general and cancer in particular. Study of the topic is especially important for understanding how the chaotic maelstrom of evolving and cascading regulatory genetic interactions in an advancing cancer produces its clinical effects and for designing pragmatic solutions to how such disorder might eventually be tamed. It is emphasized that the topic warrants much more attention in research and in clinical practice because of the added value it brings to refining cancer diagnosis and treatment and to the assessment of prognostic markers. It is also particularly relevant to understanding the etiology and extensive clinical manifestations of paraneoplastic syndromes affecting multiple organs remote from the tumor and the treatment or amelioration of the substantial morbidity that they cause in cancer patients. More broadly, inappropriate expression can be caused by a number of mechanisms including mutations, rearrangements of the genome, and viral insertions and, under prolonged selection pressures, also has the potential to be an agent of evolutionary change.

Tailored immunoconjugate therapy depending on a quantity of tumor stroma.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the appropriate combination of targeting antibody and conjugate-design of anti-tumor immunoconjugate depending on a quantity of tumor stroma. Most human solid tumors including pancreatic cancer (PC) forming hypovascular and stroma-rich tumor hinders the penetration of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) into the cells, and that leads to failure of the conventional cell-targeting immunoconjugate strategy. To overcome this drawback, SN-38 as topoisomerase 1 inhibitor was conjugated to a mAb to collagen 4, a plentiful component of the tumor stroma via ester-bond. The immunoconjugate, which was able to release SN-38 in physiological condition outside the cells, was effective to stroma-rich PC-tumor. On the other hand, anti-CD 20 mAb-PEG-SN-38 via carbamate-bond as conventional immunoconjugate, enabled SN-38 to be released by a carboxylesterase inside of the tumor cell following the internalization, showed strong anti-tumor activity against malignant lymphoma as hypervascular and stroma-poor tumor. The conjugate-design, in parallel with the choice of targeting antibodies, should be selected to maximize the therapeutic effect in each individual tumor having a distinct stromal structure.

RBBP9: a tumor-associated serine hydrolase activity required for pancreatic neoplasia.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies. To discover functionally relevant modulators of pancreatic neoplasia, we performed activity-based proteomic profiling on primary human ductal adenocarcinomas. Here, we identify retinoblastoma-binding protein 9 (RBBP9) as a tumor-associated serine hydrolase that displays elevated activity in pancreatic carcinomas. Whereas RBBP9 is expressed in normal and malignant tissues at similar levels, its elevated activity in tumor cells promotes anchorage-independent growth in vitro as well as pancreatic carcinogenesis in vivo. At the molecular level, RBBP9 activity overcomes TGF-beta-mediated antiproliferative signaling by reducing Smad2/3 phosphorylation, a previously unknown role for a serine hydrolase in cancer biology. Conversely, loss of endogenous RBBP9 or expression of mutationally inactive RBBP9 leads to elevated Smad2/3 phosphorylation, implicating this serine hydrolase as an essential suppressor of TGF-beta signaling. Finally, RBBP9-mediated suppression of TGF-beta signaling is required for E-cadherin expression as loss of the serine hydrolase activity leads to a reduction in E-cadherin levels and a concomitant decrease in the integrity of tumor cell-cell junctions. These data not only define a previously uncharacterized serine hydrolase activity associated with epithelial neoplasia, but also demonstrate the potential benefit of functional proteomics in the identification of new therapeutic targets.

Cell and tissue interactions in carcinogenesis and metastasis and their clinical significance.

This review describes a new vision for future directions in the study of metastatic cancer biology and pathology. It is based upon clinical and experimental observations on the constituent cell lineages within a neoplasm and on tumour-host interactions. The vision incorporates information from studies in population biology, developmental biology and experimental pathology as well as investigations upon human malignant disease. The assembled information reveals that invasion and metastasis are supra-cellular manifestations of "emergent behavior" among combinations of normal and malignant cell lineages in vivo. Emergent behavior is a combinatorial interactive process in which a population displays new traits which cannot be achieved by individuals acting separately and which subside when the specific population mix disaggregates. Disruption of such pathological interactions in the field of a developing primary or secondary tumour is, therefore, required to disable the malignant population and arrest progression without tissue destruction. These conclusions originate, in part, from principles which govern the sociobiology and group behavior of bees, ants, fish, birds and human societies. In all these social organisms, external factors can disrupt signaling mechanisms and induce expanding self-perpetuating rogue behavior, leading to social disintegration. These principles also apply to cellular societies composing higher animals, which likewise need intrinsic rules to maintain social order and avoid anarchy, and recognition of this is essential for advancing future research on the mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Summarised evidence is presented here to support the conclusion that miscommunications between cells and tissues in the region of the developing tumour and its metastases are the main direct perpetrators of malignant disease. Genetic lesions (mutations, deletions, translocations, reduplications, etc.), commonly seen in cancers, can significantly disrupt important molecular pathways in the networks of communications needed to sustain orderly tissue/organ structure and function. However, genetic lesions can also, themselves, be induced by abnormal cell interactions initiated by extrinsic carcinogenic agents such as chemicals, viruses, hormones and radiation. The evidence shows that, irrespective of the initiating cause, it is this miscommunication in the region of a developing tumour and its metastases that is ultimately responsible for the emergence and progression of the disease. The article describes how this information collectively, provides a framework for designing specific novel therapeutic approaches targeting the cell and tissue interactions driving tumour metastasis and its manifold effects on the whole body.

Cancer-stroma targeting therapy by cytotoxic immunoconjugate bound to the collagen 4 network in the tumor tissue.

Some cytotoxic immunoconjugates have been approved for malignant lymphoma, a representative of hypervascular and stroma-poor tumors. However, many human solid tumors possess abundant intercellular stromata that prevent diffusion of cancer cell-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and become a barrier preventing immunoconjugates from directly attacking cancer cells. Here we show the successful development of a new strategy that overcomes this drawback and achieves a highly localized concentration of a topoisomerase I inhibitor, SN 38, by conjugating it via an ester bond to a mAb targeted against collagen 4, a plentiful component of the tumor stroma. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was utilized as a spacer, close to each bond, to maintain stability in the blood. Immunoconjugates selectively extravasated from leaky tumor vessels and minimally from normal vessels because the immunoconjugates are too large to pass through normal vessel walls. Stroma-targeting immunoconjugates bound to the stroma to create a scaffold, from which sustained release of cytotoxic agent occurred and the agent subsequently diffused throughout the tumor tissue to damage both tumor cells and vessels. Cancer-stroma-targeting immunoconjugate therapy was thus validated as a new modality of oncological therapy, especially for refractory, stromal-rich cancers.

Metastasis-related plasma membrane proteins of human breast cancer cells identified by comparative quantitative mass spectrometry.

The spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to form metastasis at distant sites is a complex multistep process. The cancer cell proteins and plasma membrane proteins in particular involved in this process are poorly defined, and a study of the very early events of the metastatic process using clinical samples or in vitro assays is not feasible. We have used a unique model system consisting of two isogenic human breast cancer cell lines that are equally tumorigenic in mice; but although one gives rise to metastasis, the other disseminates single cells that remain dormant at distant organs. Membrane purification and comparative quantitative LC-MS/MS proteomics identified 13 membrane proteins that were expressed at higher levels and three that were underexpressed in the metastatic compared with the non-metastatic cell line from a total of 1919 identified protein entries. Among the proteins were ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73), NDRG1, integrin beta1, CD44, CD74, and major histocompatibility complex class II proteins. The altered expression levels of proteins identified by LC-MS/MS were validated using flow cytometry, Western blotting, and immunocyto- and immunohistochemistry. Analysis of clinical breast cancer biopsies demonstrated a significant correlation between high ecto-5'-nucleotidase and integrin beta1 expression and poor outcome, measured as tumor spread or distant recurrence within a 10-year follow-up. Further the tissue analysis suggested that NDRG1, HLA-DRalpha, HLA-DRbeta, and CD74 were associated with the ER(-)/PR(-) phenotype represented by the two cell lines. The study demonstrates a quantitative and comparative proteomics strategy to identify clinically relevant key molecules in the early events of metastasis, some of which may prove to be potential targets for cancer therapy.

Expression of melanocyte-related genes in human breast cancer and its implications.

We report the expression of melanocyte-related genes (MRG) in freshly resected, histopathologically confirmed, human breast cancer specimens and describe experiments illuminating similar observations on a variety of breast cancer cell lines including MDA-MB-435. This finding has implications for research on breast cancer, for clinical investigation of cancer patients presenting with metastases from occult primary tumors and for understanding aberrant differentiation in cancer cells. For example, higher expression of six MRG correlated inversely with propensity for metastatic spread in clones isolated from the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-435. Comparisons of MRG expression in cells growing in vitro with those seen in tumors generated by the same lines in vivo showed that the levels of activity of these genes are influenced by the surrounding environment. Also, silencing of expression of the melanocyte-related transcription factor MITF, by transduction of the non-metastatic clone NM2C5 with a construct expressing a specific anti-MITF shRNA, resulted in decreased production of 5 of the melanocyte-related proteins including TYRP1, Pmel 17, MART 1(Melan-A) and TYRP2, but no increase in metastatic capability. Hence MRG expression reproducibly ear-marked, but did not cause, metastatic incompetence. We also report cytogenetic and other data that conflict with the recent suggestion that MDA-MB-435 is of melanocytic origin and are more consistent with its original designation as being of mammary lineage. We conclude that detection of MRG expression profiles in freshly excised breast cancers and in cultured breast cancer cells reflects the operationally important clinical phenomenon of inappropriate gene expression in malignant neoplasms. Concomitantly, we suggest that the evidence we have obtained (i) collectively supports the continued widespread use of the MDA-MB-435 cell line in breast cancer and metastasis research and (ii) advances knowledge of the diversity of aberrant differentiation programs in malignant cells, which is valuable for making accurate diagnoses and treatment decisions in clinical oncology.

The fallacy of epithelial mesenchymal transition in neoplasia.

Epithelial mesenchymal transition has been postulated as a versatile mechanism which facilitates cellular repositioning and redeployment during embryonic development, tissue reconstruction after injury, carcinogenesis, and tumor metastasis. The hypothesis originates from parallels drawn between the morphology and behavior of locomotory and sedentary cells in vitro and in various normal and pathologic processes in vivo. This review analyzes data from several studies on embryonic development, wound healing, and the pathology of human tumors, including work from our own laboratory, to assess the validity of the proposal. It is concluded that there is no convincing evidence for conversion of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cell lineages in vivo and that the biological repertoire of normal and malignant cells is sufficient to account for the events and processes observed, without needing to invoke radical changes in cell identity.

Stress-Activated NRF2-MDM2 Cascade Controls Neoplastic Progression in Pancreas.

Despite expression of oncogenic KRAS, premalignant pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia 1 (PanIN1) lesions rarely become fully malignant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The molecular mechanisms through which established risk factors, such as chronic pancreatitis, acinar cell damage, and/or defective autophagy increase the likelihood of PDAC development are poorly understood. We show that accumulation of the autophagy substrate p62/SQSTM1 in stressed KrasG12D acinar cells is associated with PDAC development and maintenance of malignancy in human cells and mice. p62 accumulation promotes neoplastic progression by controlling the NRF2-mediated induction of MDM2, which acts through p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms to abrogate checkpoints that prevent conversion of differentiated acinar cells to proliferative ductal progenitors. MDM2 targeting may be useful for preventing PDAC development in high-risk individuals.

Effect of the reduction of superoxide dismutase 1 and 2 or treatment with alpha-tocopherol on tumorigenesis in Atm-deficient mice.

Atm-deficient mice, a cancer-prone model of the human disease ataxia-telangiectasia, display increased levels of oxidative stress and damage. Chronic treatment of these mice with the nitroxide antioxidant and superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic Tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl) resulted in an increased latency to tumorigenesis. We initially hypothesized that the chemopreventative effect of Tempol was due to its SOD mimetic activity reducing cellular oxidative stress and damage. However, it is also possible that the chemopreventative effect of Tempol results from mechanisms other than directly reducing superoxide radical-induced oxidative stress and damage. To help distinguish between these possibilities, we attempted to genetically increase oxidative stress in Atm-deficient mice by either removing cytosolic Sod1 or reducing mitochondrial Sod2, or we attempted to decrease oxidative stress by treatment of Atm-deficient mice with alpha-tocopherol. Surprisingly, we found that reducing both Atm and Sod1 or Atm and Sod2 did not shorten latency to tumorigenesis or significantly affect life span. Furthermore, continuous administration of alpha-tocopherol did not affect latency to thymic lymphomas. Thus, genetically reducing Sod in Atm-deficient mice or treatment with alpha-tocopherol had no effect on survival or tumorigenesis, suggesting that the chemopreventative effect of Tempol may be at least partially independent of its effects on reducing oxidative damage and stress.

New insights into the pathogenesis of breast cancer metastasis.

Synthesis and integration of macroscopic and microscopic findings on the pathogenesis of breast cancer and metastasis with recent cellular and molecular research on these topics provides a modern re-evaluation of the disease, which is relevant to clinical efforts and further research. At a microscopic level, tumors are not merely aggregates of malignant cells but are maladjusted living entities, which recruit host stromal cells such as fibroblasts, endothelial cells, etc. with which they intermingle and interact. The result is the formation of an expanding, distorted but recognizable caricature of the histology of the organ from which they are derived, which destroys adjacent normal tissue. The acquisition of metastatic capability endows the tumor with unique powers to parasitize other organs of the living host, with which it shares near complete genetic identity. This exceptional situation renders the parasitic cells almost invisible to host defences and poses a grave threat to host survival. The disseminated cancer cells present to the host defences very much the same problem that a guerilla army presents to orthodox military forces, because the disorderly tumor cells are difficult to distinguish from normal ones and are distributed in small units, in a large terrain. Recent evidence of disturbed molecular interactions between the colonizing and host populations offers the idea that one might be able to deploy classical counter-insurgency concepts based upon the dual approach, firstly of denying support from the indigenous population, by using drugs and secondly, of infiltrating the cells from within, using targeted genetic vectors. Both of these therapeutic approaches are not yet within our grasp, but we have recognized the nature of the adversary and will eventually be able to design tools to undermine its drive and progress.

Altered metastatic behavior of human breast cancer cells after experimental manipulation of matrix metalloproteinase 8 gene expression.

Previous work in our laboratory led to the cloning, from the same parent tumor cell line (MDA-MB-435), of two human breast cancer cell lines (M-4A4 and NM-2C5) with opposite metastatic phenotypes. Additional investigations revealed that the nonmetastatic cell line NM-2C5 overexpressed the neutrophil collagenase, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8, relative to its partner. Because other studies have implicated the MMP family in promoting tumor metastasis, we investigated the apparently paradoxical expression of MMP-8 in these cell lines. By genetic engineering, we inverted its relative levels of expression in the two partners and studied the effects on the behavior of the tumors that they generated in athymic mice. Knock-down of expression in NM-2C5 cells by transduction with a sequence encoding a specific ribozyme and overexpression of MMP-8 in M-4A4 cells by retroviral transduction both strikingly changed metastatic performance in opposite directions, indicating that this gene plays a role in the regulation of tumor metastasis.

Subtractive immunization using highly metastatic human tumor cells identifies SIMA135/CDCP1, a 135 kDa cell surface phosphorylated glycoprotein antigen.

We have previously used a subtractive immunization (SI) approach to generate monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against proteins preferentially expressed by the highly metastatic human epidermoid carcinoma cell line, M(+)HEp3. Here we report the immunopurification, identification and characterization of SIMA135/CDCP1 (subtractive immunization M(+)HEp3 associated 135 kDa protein/CUB domain containing protein 1) using one of these mAbs designated 41-2. Protein expression levels of SIMA135/CDCP1 correlated with the metastatic ability of variant HEp3 cell lines. Protein sequence analysis predicted a cell surface location and type I orientation of SIMA135/CDCP1, which was confirmed directly by immunocytochemistry. Analysis of deglycosylated cell lysates indicated that up to 40 kDa of the apparent molecular weight of SIMA135/CDCP1 is because of N-glycosylation. Western blot analysis using a antiphosphotyrosine antibody demonstrated that SIMA135/CDCP1 from HEp3 cells is tyrosine phosphorylated. Selective inhibitor studies indicated that an Src kinase family member is involved in the tyrosine phosphorylation of the protein. In addition to high expression in M(+)HEp3 cells, the SIMA135/CDCP1 protein is expressed to varying levels in 13 other human tumor cell lines, manifesting only a weak correlation with the reported metastatic ability of these tumor cell lines. The protein is not detected in normal human fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Northern blot analysis indicated that SIMA135/CDCP1 mRNA has a restricted expression pattern in normal human tissues with highest levels of expression in skeletal muscle and colon. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated apical and basal plasma membrane expression of SIMA135/CDCP1 in epithelial cells in normal colon. In colon tumor, SIMA135/CDCP1 expression appeared dysregulated showing extensive cell surface as well as cytoplasmic expression. Consistent with in vitro shedding experiments on HEp3 cells, SIMA135/CDCP1 was also detected within the lumen of normal and cancerous colon crypts, suggesting that protein shedding may occur in vivo. Thus, specific immunodetection followed by proteomic analysis allows for the identification and partial characterization of a heretofore uncharacterized human cell surface antigen.

Contrasting expression of thrombospondin-1 and osteopontin correlates with absence or presence of metastatic phenotype in an isogenic model of spontaneous human breast cancer metastasis.

Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved in metastatic spread is needed to facilitate advances in prognostic evaluation for individual patients and in the design of therapeutic interventions to inhibit the process. In an effort to establish a methodological framework for analysis of molecules and mechanisms involved in this complex multistep process, we have developed a well defined experimental system, in which the role of candidate genes can be screened and tested. By serial dilution cloning of the MDA-MB-435 breast tumor cell line and screening by orthotopic implantation into the mammary fat pad of athymic mice, we have derived a pair of breast tumor cell lines (M-4A4 and NM-2C5) that originate from the same breast tumor but have diametrically opposite metastatic capabilities. In 74% of inoculated athymic mice, clone M-4A4 metastasized consistently to the lungs, mimicking a major dissemination route of human breast cancer. Conversely, although equally tumorigenic, clone NM-2C5 did not metastasize to any distal site. We have confirmed that the cell lines originate from a single genetic source by spectral karyotyping and evaluated the expression of a number of proteins previously implicated in cellular transformation and metastasis. The ability of M-4A4 to metastasize was not associated with increased angiogenesis, as measured by immunohistochemical microvessel density analysis. However, RNA and protein analyses revealed that two secreted proteins were differentially expressed: osteopontin expression was increased approximately 30-fold in clone M-4A4 and thrombospondin-1 expression was increased approximately 15-fold in clone NM-2C5. These cell lines constitute a stable and accessible model for the identification of genes involved in the multistep process of breast tumor metastasis. Manipulation of candidate genes in these cells will permit evaluation of their functional significance in the geometric progression of breast cancer.

Prolonged dormancy and site-specific growth potential of cancer cells spontaneously disseminated from nonmetastatic breast tumors as revealed by labeling with green fluorescent protein.

This study used an isogenic pair of metastatic (M4A4) and nonmetastatic (NM2C5), green fluorescent protein-labeled human breast cancer cell lines derived from the same patient and inoculated into the mammary glands of nude mice to investigate the dissemination patterns and fate of cells that escaped spontaneously from the resulting tumors. After tumors appeared, fluorescing single tumor cells were regularly seen in the lungs, even in animals inoculated with NM2C5, which fails to form secondary tumors in other organs. The sensitivity of the technique confirmed the continuing presence of scattered NM2C5 cells after primary tumor resection, although they formed no metastases by 6 months. These self-disseminated human tumor cells were retrievable from the tissues and were still viable and malignant, manifested by indefinite proliferation in vitro and green fluorescence and local tumorigenicity in vivo. Therefore, these scattered tumor cells were still immortal but rendered indefinitely quiescent by the microenvironmental conditions in the lung tissue. This is the first unequivocal demonstration of spontaneous distant dissemination of human cancer cells by undisturbed nonmetastatic tumors and comprises a valuable system for the analysis of tumor dormancy. In contrast, although many of the cells disseminating from M4A4 tumors grew into fluorescing metastases in the lungs, others remained solitary and quiescent. Therefore, even in a clonally derived cell population with metastatic properties, many cells do not, or cannot, mobilize the organ-specific growth properties needed to generate metastases. This experimental approach, by using self-disseminating, green fluorescent protein-labeled, sister cell lines of opposing metastatic phenotypes, opens new avenues for investigating topics of clinical relevance, including tumor cell dormancy, anatomical distribution of metastases, and host factors influencing the metastatic process.

Differential effects of retinoic acid on the growth of isogenic metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines and their association with distinct expression of retinoic acid receptor beta isoforms 2 and 4.

The human retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta) has three isoforms (beta1, beta2, and beta4), which play important, distinct roles in mediating the effects of retinoic acid on cell growth and apoptosis. Whereas RARbeta2 is a potent inhibitor of breast cancer cell proliferation, RARbeta4 can act as a dominant-negative repressor of RARbeta2-mediated growth suppression. In this study we investigated the effects of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) on two clones derived from the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-435: a non-metastatic clone (NM-2C5) and a metastatic clone (M-4A4). ATRA treatment of the NM-2C5 cells resulted in growth inhibition and apoptosis, whereas the M-4A4 cells were resistant to ATRA. Analyses of the expression of RARbeta isoforms revealed that the sensitive NM-2C5 clone expressed only RARbeta2, whereas the resistant M-4A4 cells expressed both RARbeta2 and RARbeta4 mRNA and protein. ATRA treatment increased RARbeta2 mRNA level in NM-2C5 cells, whereas the same treatment of the M-4A4 cells resulted in an increase in RARbeta4 and a decrease in RARbeta2 mRNA. ATRA treatment of NM-2C5 cells increased the protein levels of the histone acetyl transferases p300 and CBP, suppressed the level of histone deacetylase and increased the level of acetylated histone H4. ATRA also decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bax and decreased VEGF. In contrast, the same treatment of the M-4A4 cells resulted in opposite effects. These results suggest that the effects of ATRA on the growth of the metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines depend on the expression of RARbeta isoforms and that the expression of RARbeta4 may contribute to metastatic properties.

Identification of genes associated with metastasis of mammary carcinoma in metastatic versus non-metastatic cell lines.

Cell lines 4A4 and 2C5 are the respective metastatic and non-metastatic variants (nude mouse system) derived from the human mammary carcinoma cell line MDA-MB-435. In order to identify genes associated with or functionally involved in metastasis, we have extended our previous transcriptional profile from 5000 to 12,000 genes using the Affymetrix Gene Chip array technology. Based on a threshold level of a change factor of > or = 2.5, we found that the steady-state level of 40 genes (0.3%) was up-regulated and conversely 89 genes (0.7%) were down-regulated in the metastatic cell line 4A4. The de-regulated genes were classified into categories such as tumor antigens/transmembrane receptors, enzymes, mediators of signaling, cell migration and angiogenesis, cell-cycle-, apoptosis-, differentiation- and growth-factor related genes, tumor suppression, transcription factors and genes encoding components of the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton. As possible mediators of invasion we identified DGCR6, osteopontin, autotaxin and the 65 kD phosphoprotein p65. In addition, three sugar-modifying enzymes were up-regulated in cell line 4A4. Profound differences in G-protein-mediated signaling and down-regulation of the tumor-suppressor genes DPC4, BARDI and DLC-1 were noted in the metastatic cell line 4A4.