Roles of Fas and Fas ligand during mammary gland remodeling.

Mammary involution is associated with degeneration of the alveolar structure and programmed cell death of mammary epithelial cells. In this study, we evaluated the expression of Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) in the mammary gland tissue and their possible role in the induction of apoptosis of mammary cells. FasL-positive cells were observed in normal mammary epithelium from pregnant and lactating mice, but not in nonpregnant/virgin mouse mammary tissue. Fas expression was observed in epithelial and stromal cells in nonpregnant mice but was absent during pregnancy. At day 1 after weaning, high levels of both Fas and FasL proteins and caspase 3 were observed and coincided with the appearance of apoptotic cells in ducts and glands. During the same period, no apoptotic cells were found in the Fas-deficient (MRL/lpr) and FasL-deficient (C3H/gld) mice. Increase in Fas and FasL protein was demonstrated in human (MCF10A) and mouse (HC-11) mammary epithelial cells after incubation in hormone-deprived media, before apoptosis was detected. These results suggest that the Fas-FasL interaction plays an important role in the normal remodeling of mammary tissue. Furthermore, this autocrine induction of apoptosis may prevent accumulation of cells with mutations and subsequent neoplastic development. Failure of the Fas/FasL signal could contribute to tumor development.

Interactions of the UVRABC endonuclease in vivo and in vitro with DNA damage produced by antineoplastic anthracyclines.

The anthracycline antineoplastic agents Adriamycin and N-trifluoroacetyl-Adriamycin-14-valerate were assayed in vivo and in vitro for ability to produce DNA lesions recognized by the UVRABC endonuclease, a DNA repair enzyme of Escherichia coli which recognizes large, bulky lesions in DNA. We found that, while both drugs produce DNA lesions, only the lesions produced by Adriamycin were toxic. Hence, anthracycline antineoplastic activity may be related to production of large, bulky lesions in DNA, while toxicity may correlate with toxicity measured in a simple E. coli DNA repair mutant test system.

Repair of haloethylnitrosourea-induced DNA damage in mutant and adapted bacteria.

The sensitivities of Escherichia coli K-12 strain AB1157, its uvrA-deficient mutant AB1886, and its recA mutant AB2463 to N,N'-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea, N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea, and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea have been determined. These data indicate that loss of either uvr excision repair or recA-dependent DNA repair greatly increases sensitivity to the haloethylnitrosoureas. At the same time, loss of recA-dependent DNA repair increases sensitivity to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea significantly while loss of uvr excision repair increases sensitivity to this agent only marginally. Adapting the uvrA-deficient and recA-deficient mutants by growth in N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine increases survival after exposure to either N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine or N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, but neither adapted strain loses its sensitivity to N,N'-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea. Taken together, these data indicate that the haloethylnitrosoureas cause other important cytotoxic lesions in DNA in addition to those involving alkylation of the O6 position of guanine and that the uvrA and recA gene products are involved in the repair of these lesions.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor mediates invasion of ovarian cancer cells through urokinase.

The macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) is best known as a hematopoietic cytokine important to macrophage activation. Recently, the importance of CSF-1 and its receptor (encoded by the c-fms proto-oncogene) in epithelial ovarian cancer has also been recognized, with overexpression of CSF-1 denoting poor prognosis in ovarian cancer patients. During macrophage activation, CSF-1 promotes urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) activity; in macrophages and in malignant cells of lung, breast, colon, and prostatic origin, uPA activity is strongly correlated with the ability to invade and, in the malignant cells, to metastasize. While there is clear evidence of CSF-1 and uPA expression in primary and metastatic ovarian cancer, the significance of their expression to invasion of these cells has not been explored. We find that all of our ovarian cancer cell lines which we have studied co-express CSF-1 and uPA transcripts and protein. Urokinase expression in these ovarian cancer cell lines correlates with the degree of tumorigenicity in nude mice, with the most virulent tumor resulting from Hey cells, a strong expressor of uPA. We studied the invasion of these primary and established ovarian cancer cells through a Matrigel (reconstituted basement membrane matrix) barrier. The ability of ovarian cancer cells to invade is strongly correlated with endogenous CSF-1 expression (Pearson's correlation, r = 0.91; P = 0.01). A total of 0.90 +/- 0.16% of Bix3 cells (very weak expressor of CSF-1) invaded through the barrier, in contrast to 6.95 +/- 0.75% of Hey cells (strong CSF-1 expressor) and 10.44 +/- 2.33% of Bixler cells (the strongest CSF-1 expressor). We studied the ability of two of the cell lines to invade human laminin and type IV collagen (Bix3, a weak invader of Matrigel, and Hey, a strong invader), to determine (a) whether our results on a Matrigel matrix may represent a relevant model for invasion in humans and (b) whether there is a potential confounding effect from the cytokines and proteases in Matrigel. On this human simple matrix, we confirm that Bix3 is a weakly invasive cell line (0.33 +/- 0.04% invasion) which contrasted to the strongly invasive Hey cell line (8.51 +/- 0.47%). Treatment of Bix3 cells with exogenous CSF-1 stimulates percentage of invasion by 2-fold and results in a similar increase in the level of uPA transcripts and cellular associated uPA antigen. Furthermore, cell surface-bound uPA increased from 74% in the absence of CSF-1 to 100% (fully saturated) in the presence of CSF-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Ets-2 transdominant mutant abolishes anchorage-independent growth and macrophage colony-stimulating factor-stimulated invasion by BT20 breast carcinoma cells.

Activation of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (CSF-1R) by its cognate ligand CSF-1 dramatically increases the tumorigenicity and invasive potential of both normal and neoplastic mammary epithelial cells. Recent studies have suggested that the Ets2 transcription factor plays a central role in mediating CSF-1R-induced mitogenesis in fibroblasts. To determine whether the Ets2 transcription factor can also mediate CSF-1- and CSF-1R-stimulated signaling pathways in mammary epithelial cells, we expressed a dominant negative mutant, Ets2, in the CSF-1R- and Ets2-positive BT20 breast carcinoma cell line and examined its effects on CSF-1-induced cellular invasion and on colony formation in soft agar. Our data show that stable expression of the mutant Ets2 in BT20 cells completely inhibits the formation of soft agar colonies and abolishes the CSF-1-stimulated invasion of these cells through a barrier of reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel). We have also demonstrated that the expression of this Ets2 mutant is capable of interrupting the CSF-1R-regulated intracellular signaling pathways by inhibiting CSF-1-induced c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun expression in BT20 cells. Our results are the first demonstration of an important role for the Ets2 transcription factor in the regulation of the anchorage-independent growth and cellular invasiveness of neoplastic mammary epithelial cells.

Independent regulation of invasion and anchorage-independent growth by different autophosphorylation sites of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor.

Invasion of tissue by macrophages and implantation into the uterine wall by placental trophoblasts are known to be regulated by the macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) and its receptor (CSF-1R, the product of the c-fms proto-oncogene). Recently, the clinical importance of CSF-1 and CSF-1R in invasive breast carcinoma has been recognized, but the significance of coexpression of CSF-1 and CSF-1R in mammary epithelial cell invasion has not been explored. In the present study, we investigated the invasive potential of a noninvasive, CSF-1R-negative, mouse mammary epithelial cell line (HC11) expressing a high level of CSF-1, which was stably transfected with the mouse wild-type CSF-1R. Compared with parental cells, transfected cells expressing a wild-type CSF-1R invaded 100-fold more efficiently through a barrier of reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) and formed colonies in soft agar, whereas the cellular growth rate was only slightly increased. Analysis of cell-conditioned medium by zymography and quantitative enzyme activity assays showed that clones transfected with a wild-type CSF-1R expressed significantly higher levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator than did untransfected clones. Furthermore, after injection into the tail veins of BALB/c mice, CSF-1R-expressing clones also produced a 10-fold higher incidence of lung tumors than the parental cell line. We also analyzed HC11 clones transfected with CSF-1R mutated at two major autophosphorylation sites (Tyr-->Phe807 and Tyr-->Phe721). Mutation at Tyr807 eradicated the stimulatory effect of Fms expression on the invasive ability of HC11 cells and substantially reduced the metastatic potential of the transfected clones but did not alter the Fms-induced anchorage-independent growth in soft agar. In contrast, mutation at Tyr721 of Fms had no effect on invasion as measured in the in vitro assay but markedly abolished Fms-induced colony formation in soft agar and eradicated the metastatic potential of the transfected clones. Our results suggest that expression of CSF-1R can facilitate cellular invasion and anchorage-independent growth in mammary epithelial cells, and these two processes are independently regulated by separate phosphotyrosine sites of CSF-1R.

Repeat expansion detection analysis of (CAG)n tracts in tumor cell lines, testicular tumors, and testicular cancer families.

The mutational expansion of triplet repeat microsatellite sequences underlies the transmission of a number of heritable neurological disorders. However, this form of microsatellite instability has not previously been observed in association with malignant disease. Because trinucleotide expansions can dramatically alter gene expression and protein function, we hypothesized that they might occur in neoplastic cells as a mechanism through which to alter cancer genes. Accordingly, we used the repeat expansion detection technique to determine whether (CAG)n triplet repeat expansions were present in DNA from malignant cells. No expansions were observed in a survey of 20 tumor cell lines derived from neoplasms of the breast, ovary, cervix, endometrium, lung, colon, placenta, or hematopoietic system. However, we did observe expanded (CAG)n tracts in DNA from 5 of 11 testicular tumor cell lines and in 1 of 11 sporadic testicular tumors. Examination of the corresponding normal DNA, when available, revealed that some of the expansions were germline in nature. To assess the possibility that (CAG)n expansions underlie some cases of inherited testicular cancer, we also analyzed germline DNA from members of five kindreds predisposed to this malignancy. An increase in (CAG)n tract size was observed in all five families and was particularly striking in one large pedigree in which expansions were observed in three of four affected siblings. These observations raise the possibility that the germline transmission of expanded (CAG)n tracts may play a role in testicular tumorigenesis.

Effect of all-trans-retinoic acid on c-fms proto-oncogene [colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) receptor] expression and CSF-1-induced invasion and anchorage-independent growth of human breast carcinoma cells.

Abnormal expression of c-fms proto-oncogene, which encodes for the macrophage colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) receptor, has been observed in a variety of carcinomas of epithelial origin, including those of the breast. Here, we have investigated the effect of retinoic acid (RA), an important regulator of normal differentiation of mammary epithelial tissues, on the expression of the c-fms gene and CSF-1/CSF-1 receptor-induced invasion and anchorage-independent growth in breast carcinoma cells. We have demonstrated that all-trans-RA (atRA) significantly increases levels of c-fms transcripts in the estrogen receptor-negative but RA receptor alpha-positive breast carcinoma cell lines BT20 and SKBR3. The atRA-induced increase in fms transcript levels was completely abolished by RO41-5253, a synthetic RA receptor alpha antagonist. Our results indicate that atRA could enhance fms expression by up-regulating the activity of the first promoter of the fms gene. DNase I protection, mobility shift, and mutational analysis revealed that a potential activator protein 1 (AP-1) site in the first fms promoter sequence could mediate the observed atRA effect on fms transcription. Our results also showed that atRA, by itself and in the presence of CSF-1, can increase the ability of breast carcinoma cells to invade in vitro. Furthermore, we demonstrated that atRA is able to abolish the CSF-1-induced increase in anchorage-independent growth of breast carcinoma cells without affecting the anchorage-dependent growth. In summary, our findings suggest that retinoids may play conflicting roles throughout breast cancer progression, depending on the stage of cancer development. Although retinoids might suppress growth at the early stages of tumor formation, they might promote malignant transformation at later stages by stimulating the invasive capacity of certain cell variants in the breast tumor population.

Enhancement of anthracycline growth inhibition in parent and multidrug-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cells by cyclosporin A and its analogues.

Cyclosporins have been shown to sensitize multidrug-resistant cells to chemotherapeutic agents but, generally, have minimal effect on sensitive lines. We studied the effect of cyclosporin A (CsA) and two nonimmunosuppressive analogues, 11-methyl-leucine- (11-Me-Leu-CsA) and 6-methyl-alanine-cyclosporin A (6-Me-Ala-CsA), on the action of doxorubicin (DOX) and 4'-epidoxorubicin against parent (AuXB1) and multidrug-resistant (CHRC5) Chinese hamster ovary cells. CsA and its two analogues reduced the IC50 values for DOX in sensitive AuXB1 cells from 0.1 to 0.01-0.02 microM. Cyclosporins reduced the IC50 of DOX in resistant CHRC5 cells from 9 to 0.1 (CsA), 0.7 (6-Me-Ala-CsA), and 1.2 microM (11-Me-Leu-CsA). Similar results were seen when cyclosporins were combined with 4'-epidoxorubicin. The cyclosporins alone had no effect at these concentrations (1-2.0 micrograms/ml). Dose-response curves suggested that CsA was a more potent modifying agent than 11-Me-Leu-CsA towards resistant CHRC5 cells. The ability of the cyclosporins to enhance anthracycline growth inhibition in parent AuXB1 cells may be related to an increase in drug uptake and an increase in anthracycline-induced DNA damage. CsA increased DOX accumulation as well as DOX-associated DNA single-strand breaks in AuXB1 cells over those seen in cells exposed to DOX alone. The degree of increase in DNA breaks paralleled the degree of growth inhibition seen in cells exposed to the same concentrations of drugs. In contrast, CsA had no effect on DOX accumulation or DNA single-strand breaks in CHRC5 cells. These findings imply that, in the resistant cell line, the enhanced anthracycline growth inhibition in the presence of CsA is independent of DOX accumulation and single-strand DNA breaks. These studies demonstrate that CsA and two nonimmunosuppressive analogues can sensitize both sensitive and resistant Chinese hamster ovary cells to anthracyclines. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying this effect may differ between sensitive and multidrug-resistant cells.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) enhances invasiveness in CSF-1 receptor-positive carcinoma cell lines.

We have identified two lung carcinoma cell lines, A549 and Calu-1, expressing low levels of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) receptor (CSF-1R), encoded by the c-fms oncogene. The effect of CSF-1 on the invasive potential of these CSF-1R-positive tumor cell lines and on two other CSF-1R-bearing cell lines, the BT-20 breast carcinoma cell line and the CSF-1 growth-dependent murine macrophage cell line BAC1.2F5, was examined using a human amnionic basement membrane invasion model. Culture of A549, Calu-1, and BAC1.2F5 cells with CSF-1 (250 ng/ml) resulted in a maximal 12-, 5-, and 12-fold enhancement of invasion, respectively, compared to control cells cultured in medium alone. Larger concentrations of CSF-1 (750 ng/ml) reduced A549 and Calu-1 invasiveness compared to the effect of the 250-ng/ml dose. Maximal enhancement in invasion of A549 and Calu-1 cells occurred after a 24- and 48-h exposure to CSF-1, respectively. CSF-1 increased invasiveness 6-fold in BT-20 cells induced by glucocorticoids to express high levels of CSF-1R, in comparison to control cells not exposed to glucocorticoids or CSF-1. In contrast, CSF-1 had no effect on invasion in the CSF-1R-negative MCF-7 cell line. Culture of A549 and Calu-1 cells with other cytokines and growth factors including GM-CSF (500 units/ml), IL-3 (1 ng/ml), interferon-gamma (500 units/ml), and tumor necrosis factor (50 units/ml) had no significant effect on invasiveness. Thus, CSF-1 increases invasiveness in CSF-1R-positive tumor cell lines, suggesting a role in enhancing the metastatic potential of tumor cells expressing the CSF-1R.

Tumor necrosis factor stimulates epithelial tumor cell motility.

Cellular motility is a critical function in embryonic development, tissue repair, and tumor invasion. We used assays of scattering (epithelial colony dispersion), cell migration, and cell invasion to study cytokine-regulated motility in epithelial and carcinoma cell lines. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) stimulated motility in 12 of 14 cell lines in one or more assay systems. The motility-stimulating activity of TNF did not correlate with its antiproliferative activity. In lines whose migration was stimulated by both TNF and scatter factor (SF), a fibroblast-derived cytokine which stimulates epithelial cell motility, saturating concentrations of TNF plus SF induced greater migration than either agent alone. Anti-TNF monoclonal antibody blocked TNF- but not SF-stimulated motility. While various other factors (basic fibroblast growth factor, interleukin 6, interleukin 2, colony-stimulating factor 1) had little or not motility-stimulating activity, phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), a tumor-promoting phorbol ester, scattered and/or stimulated migration in all cell lines studied. Combinations of saturating concentrations of TNF plus PMA or of SF plus PMA induced greater migration than did any agent alone. These findings suggest that (a) carcinoma cell motility may be mediated by multiple biochemical pathways and (b) TNF stimulates epithelial motility by a mechanism different from that of SF and PMA. In vivo, TNF might enhance invasiveness of some carcinomas or stimulate epithelial wound healing.

The use of the L-plastin promoter for adenoviral-mediated, tumor-specific gene expression in ovarian and bladder cancer cell lines.

A 2.4-kb truncated L-plastin promoter was inserted either 5' to the LacZ gene (Ad-Lp-LacZ) or 5' to the cytosine deaminase (CD) gene (Ad-Lp-CD) in a replication-incompetent adenoviral vector backbone. Infectivity and cytotoxicity experiments with the LacZ and CD vectors suggested that the L-plastin promoter-driven transcriptional units were expressed at much higher levels in explants of ovarian cancer cells from patients and in established ovarian or bladder cancer cell lines than they were in normal peritoneal mesothelial cells from surgical specimens, in organ cultures of normal ovarian cells, or in the established CCD minimal deviation fibroblast cell line. Control experiments showed that this difference was not attributable to the lack of infectivity of the normal peritoneal cells, the normal ovarian cells, or the minimal deviation CCD fibroblast cell line, because these cells showed expression of the LacZ reporter gene when exposed to the replication-incompetent adenoviral vector carrying the cytomegalovirus (CMV)-driven LacZ gene (Ad-CMV-LacZ). The Ovcar-5 and Skov-3 ovarian cancer cell lines exposed to the Ad-Lp-CD adenoviral vector were much more sensitive to the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5FC), which is converted from the 5FC prodrug into the toxic chemical 5-fluorouracil, than was the CCD minimal deviation fibroblast cell line after exposure to the same vector. A mouse xenograft model was used to show that the Ad-Lp-CD vector/5FC system could prevent engraftment of ovarian cancer cells in nude mice. Finally, injection of the Ad-Lp-CD vector into s.c. tumor nodules generated a greater reduction of the size of the tumor nodules than did injection of the Ad-CMV-LacZ vectors into tumor nodules. The Ad-Lp-CD vectors were as suppressive to tumor growth as the Ad-CMV-CD vectors. These results suggest that an adenoviral vector carrying the CD gene controlled by the L-plastin promoter (Ad-Lp-CD) may be of potential value for the i.p. therapy of ovarian cancer.

Transcriptional regulation of the c-fms (CSF-1R) proto-oncogene in human breast carcinoma cells by glucocorticoids.

Expression of the macrophage colony stimulating factor CSF-1 and its receptor, the c-fms proto-oncogene, has been observed in macrophages, trophoblast and in a variety of neoplasms of epithelial origin including those of the breast. We have reported earlier (Oncogene, 1991, 6: 941-952) that c-fms transcript and protein expression were dramatically increased in several breast carcinoma cell lines by glucocorticoids which are essential humoral regulators of normal mammary epithelial cell differentiation. In this communication, we demonstrate that levels of c-fms transcript and protein increased significantly within the first few hours of glucocorticoid treatment, and that these increases were completely abolished by pretreatment of cells with mifepristone (RU486). We also demonstrate that such early increases in c-fms transcript levels could not be attributed to prolongation of transcript half-life. Both promoters of the c-fms gene were found to exhibit some basal activity in breast carcinoma cell lines and both were stimulated 2-3-fold by glucocorticoids. However the first promoter was shown to be responsible for more than 95% of the observed c-fms transcription. Sequence upstream of both promoters was found to contain potential 'glucocorticoid response elements' (GREs), and in each case, elimination of the GRE closest to the promoter abolished glucocorticoid stimulation. Our observations suggest that one mechanism by which glucocorticoids regulate the proliferation and differentiation of neoplastic mammary epithelial cells is through their regulation of transcription of the gene for the receptor of a ubiquitous cytokine, CSF-1.

Recognition of activated CSF-1 receptor in breast carcinomas by a tyrosine 723 phosphospecific antibody.

The macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor (CSF-1R), the product of the c-fms proto-oncogene, plays an important role in regulating the normal proliferation and differentiation of macrophages and trophoblasts. However, the abnormal expression of CSF-1R transcripts and protein by human breast carcinomas has been shown to correlate with advanced stage and poor prognosis. Ligand activated CSF-1R dimers transphosphorylate several tyrosines in their cytoplasmic domains which provide recognition sites for various effector proteins in multiple signal transduction pathways. In cells transformed by the c-fms oncogene, one of the major CSF-1R phosphotyrosines, pTyr723 is important for phenotypic expression of anchorage-independent growth and metastasis. In order to investigate the relationship between receptor activation/phosphorylation and cellular phenotypes in vitro and in vivo, we prepared a CSF-1R phosphorylation-state specific antibody raised against a specific phosphopeptide of CSF-1R, which included phosphorylated tyrosine 723. On immunoblots of lysates from cells expressing CSF-1R, this antibody recognizes phosphorylated CSF-IR in CSF-1 stimulated cells but not in unstimulated cells. As an immunohistochemical reagent, this antibody stained 52% of invasive human breast tumors (72% of CSF-1R positive cases) in a sample of 114 cases and 38% of carcinoma in situ. This data represents the first direct evidence of in vivo phosphorylation of CSF-1R in human breast carcinomas.

FMS (CSF-1 receptor) and CSF-1 transcripts and protein are expressed by human breast carcinomas in vivo and in vitro.

The expression in vivo of FMS transcripts and antigen by neoplastic epithelial cells was demonstrated immunohistochemically or by in situ hybridization in sixteen of seventeen human breast carcinoma specimens and one case of sclerosing adenosis. Expression of CSF-1 receptor (FMS) transcripts and protein was also observed in vitro in two or three breast carcinoma-derived cell lines and was dramatically increased by dexamethasone, a potent glucocorticoid and inducer of mammary epithelial cell differentiation. Immunohistochemical staining with an anti-CSF-1 antibody identified neoplastic epithelial cell co-expression of fms and CSF-1 antigens in more than one-third of the fms-positive invasive carcinoma specimens. These results suggest that autocrine and paracrine interactions of the lymphohematopoietic cytokine CSF-1 and its receptor may participate in the biology of human mammary neoplasms.

Overexpression of epithelial macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) and CSF-1 receptor: a poor prognostic factor in epithelial ovarian cancer, contrasted with a protective effect of stromal CSF-1.

Markedly elevated levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) in the serum and ascites of epithelial ovarian cancer patients have been previously associated with a poor prognosis. However, measurements of circulating CSF-1 cannot separate CSF-1 originating in the cancer cell from that originating in stromal macrophage or fibroblast. To study the prognosis related to expression of CSF-1 and its receptor in primary and metastatic ovarian cancers and to compare the significance of epithelial versus stromal CSF-1 expression, an immunohistochemical study of 130 ovarian carcinomas was performed. Twenty-two stage I and II and 108 stage III and IV primary tumors were studied. Metastatic lesions were also studied in 96 of these 130 cases, 90 of which came from those cases with advanced-stage disease. The intensity and extent of staining for CSF-1 in epithelium and stroma and for epithelial CSF-1 receptor was scored. Kaplan-Meier curves of survival were compared with the log-rank test. The Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis. In the primary tumors, there was strong expression of CSF-1 receptor in 65%, epithelial CSF-1 in 36%, and stromal CSF-1 in 22%. In the metastases, there was strong staining for CSF-1 receptor in 65%, epithelial CSF-1 in 41%, and stromal CSF-1 in 15%; strong staining for both CSF-1 receptor and epithelial CSF-1 was noted in 26% of the cases. When the metastases expressed both CSF-1 receptor and epithelial CSF-1 strongly, a significant decrease in disease-free survival in stage III invasive ovarian cancers was observe (P = 0.043), which was found to be an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.007), with an increased relative risk of recurrence of 2.3-fold. Although strong staining for stromal CSF-1 in the primary tumor was not found to have prognostic value, for all stages and for the subsets of stages III and IV and for stage III alone, the finding of any degree of stromal CSF-1 expression in the ovary was a favorable prognostic factor for disease-free (P = 0.046) and overall (P = 0.015) survival. This finding was associated with younger patients (P = 0.007) and low-grade tumors (P = 0.033) and was not an independent prognostic factor on multivariate analysis. Among the primary tumors, there was a significant association (P = 0.022) between stromal CSF-1 staining and lack of strong coexpression of CSF-1 receptor and epithelial CSF-1; 67 of 94 cases shared these features in the primary tumors. In the metastases of invasive stage III cases, strong staining for stromal CSF-1 was a favorable prognostic factor for overall survival in the absence of strong CSF-1 receptor staining (P = 0.033) and was associated with low-grade tumors (P = 0.0002). We report that strong expression of epithelial CSF-1 along with its receptor in the metastases of ovarian cancer patients appears to be a strong independent poor prognostic factor for outcome. We find that expression of the same cytokine (CSF-1) in the stroma of the primary tumors is associated with low-grade tumors and lack of strong coexpression of CSF-1 receptor and epithelial CSF-1, leading to an improved long-term outcome. This study may help explain the previous observations that elevated levels of CSF-1 in serum and ascites are associated with a worse prognosis in advanced ovarian cancer patients; the results suggest that the source of secreted CSF-1 may largely be the epithelium. The results of this study suggest that paracrine effects of stromal CSF-1 on tumor behavior contrast with those demonstrated when the tumor cell is capable of autocrine intracellular or extracellular interactions between CSF-1 and its receptor.

Prognostic significance of colony-stimulating factor receptor expression in ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence.

The macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (CSF-1R), the product of the c-fms proto-oncogene, regulates normal proliferation and differentiation of macrophages and trophoblasts. Recent research found abnormal expression of CSF-1R in human carcinomas of the breast, endometrium, and ovary. Furthermore, activation of CSF-1R by its ligand has been shown to regulate invasiveness and anchorage-independent growth in breast carcinoma cells. To study the significance of CSF-1R expression in breast cancer, we designed a case-controlled immunohistochemical study. We chose 80 patients from a database of 1200 early stage I or II breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy. Expression of CSF-1R in the tumors of 40 patients who experienced an ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) as a primary site of relapse were compared with 40 patients who had not experienced an IBTR. The index and control patients were matched by age, clinical stage, nodal status, and follow-up. Paraffin-embedded sections were immunostained with antibodies directed toward CSF-1R. For the CSF-1R antibody, a total of 28 index cases (70%) demonstrated strong staining, whereas only 16 control cases (40%) demonstrated high immunoreactivity (P = 0.007). The CSF-1R antibody showed a positive correlation for local relapse, but no correlation was found between CSF-1R expression and distant metastasis. In summary, our findings provide evidence for the poor prognostic role of CSF-1R in IBTR.

Posttranscriptional regulation of colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and CSF-1 receptor gene expression during inhibition of phorbol-ester-induced monocytic differentiation by dexamethasone and cyclosporin A: potential involvement of a destabilizing protein.

Colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and its receptor (encoded by the c-fms proto-oncogene) have long been recognized as playing an important role in monocytic differentiation. However, the regulation of expression of the CSF-1 and c-fms genes during inhibition of monocytic differentiation has not been fully characterized. The present studies demonstrate that dexamethasone (dex) and cyclosporin A (CsA) resulted in inhibition of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced monocytic differentiation of HL60 cells, as well as TPA induction of c-fms and CSF-1 transcripts. These agents also blocked TPA-induced adherence, alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase staining, and the development of a more differentiated morphology. Nuclear run-off analyses revealed no effect of either of these agents on transcription of either c-fms or CSF-1 genes in TPA-treated HL60 cells. Measurements of c-fms transcript half-life confirmed post-transcriptional regulation of c-fms transcript levels after the addition of dex or CsA to TPA, both of which resulted in a decrease in c-fms mRNA half-life. Others have suggested that TPA results in the stabilization of c-fms mRNA in HL60 cells through induction of a labile mRNA stabilizing protein. We observed, however, that the inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide (CH) in this setting of early monocytic differentiation increased both c-fms and CSF-1 steady-state transcript levels. While CH had no effect on the transcription of c-fms and CSF-1 genes in TPA/dex- or TPA/CsA-treated HL60 cells, c-fms mRNA was stabilized after the addition of CH to TPA/dex-treated cells. Taken together, our results suggest the existence of a labile mRNA regulatory protein or proteins, whose actions include destabilization of both c-fms and CSF-1 transcripts after inhibition of TPA-induced monocytic differentiation by dex or CsA.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor release and receptor expression in bone cells.

Colony-stimulating factors (CSF) may play a role in bone resorption. To examine whether osteoblasts secrete colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP), conditioned medium (CM) from ROS 17/2.8 cells and primary rat osteoblasts were examined for induction of clonal growth of cultured rat bone marrow cells. Untreated cells constitutively secreted CSA, which increased with PTH and PTHrP treatment. The colonies formed were principally comprised of macrophages, and preincubation of CM with antiserum to murine macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) neutralized most of the CSA, suggesting that the osteoblast-derived CSA was predominantly due to M-CSF. PTHrP treatment upregulated steady-state M-CSF mRNA levels. To investigate a paracrine role for M-CSF in bone we examined bone tissue and cells for the M-CSF receptor c-fms using immunohistochemical techniques and demonstrated staining of mature osteoclasts both in situ and after isolation. We conclude that M-CSF is responsible for the majority of the CSA released by PTH- and PTHrP-treated rat osteoblasts. In addition we identified CSF-1 receptor expression in mature osteoclasts. These data suggest that M-CSF is a mediator of osteoblast-osteoclast interaction in PTH- and PTHrP-induced bone resorption.

In situ transcription and detection of CD1a mRNA in epidermal cells: an alternative to standard in situ hybridization techniques.

To develop methods for the investigation of mRNA transcription in rare epidermal cells, we used in situ transcription to study CD1a mRNA in isolated CD1a positive cells. We chose to study this Langerhans cell marker because it is not known which epidermal cells actually produce the CD1a protein and because there is evidence that CD1a mRNA is alternately spliced, a situation which could lead to truncated or alternate protein products in CD1a surface protein negative cells. Disaggregated epidermal cells were resolved into CD1a surface protein positive and negative groups by fluorescence activated cell sorting and cytocentrifuged onto glass slides. A synthetic 52 base, CD1a specific anti-sense oligomer was hybridized to CD1a gene transcripts in these cells, and radiolabeled cDNA synthesized in situ on the oligomerprimed CD1a transcripts. The labeled cDNA fragments were visualized in the cells of origin by autoradiography, and grains per cell were counted. Sixty-eight percent of cells expressing CD1a protein contained CD1a mRNA, as evidenced by grain counts more than two standard deviations above the mean value for similar cells carried through the same procedure with a control oligomer, or the mean value of CD1a surface protein negative cells treated with the CD1a specific oligomer. Thus, it seems likely that the CD1a protein positive epidermal cells use CD1a mRNA to make their own CD1a protein, and that a truncated or masked CD1a protein is not made by CD1a negative neonatal foreskin epidermal cells. In our hands, in situ transcription is simpler and faster than standard methods of in situ hybridization with prelabeled cDNA or RNA probes. Furthermore, it can be applied to the detection of any message of known sequence. The combination of cell sorting and in situ transcription can be used to localize and quantify the expression of specific mRNA by individual cells, allowing the study of rare and difficult-to-obtain cells.