Interaction of FGF9 with FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc, a putative driver of growth and aggressive behaviour of hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recently, overexpression of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) splice variants FGFR3-IIIb and FGFR3-IIIc was found in ~50% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we aim to identify FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc ligands, which drive the progression of HCC. METHODS: FACS, MTT assay and/or growth curves served to identify the FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc ligand being most effective to induce growth of hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cell lines, established from human HCC. The most potent FGF was characterized regarding the expression levels in epithelial and stromal cells of liver and HCC and impact on neoangiogenesis, clonogenicity and invasive growth of hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells. RESULTS: Among all FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc ligands tested, FGF9 was the most potent growth factor for hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells. Replication and/or sprouting of blood/lymphendothelial cells was stimulated as well. FGF9 occurred mainly in stromal cells of unaltered liver but in epithelial cells of HCC. Every fifth HCC exhibited overexpressed FGF9 and frequent co-upregulation of FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc. In hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells FGF9 enhanced the capability for clonogenicity and disintegration of the blood and lymphatic endothelium, being most pronounced in cells overexpressing FGFR3-IIIb or FGFR3-IIIc, respectively. Any of the FGF9 effects in hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells was blocked completely by applying the FGFR1-3-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor BGJ398 or siFGFR3, while siFGFR1/2/4 were mostly ineffective. CONCLUSIONS: FGF9 acts via FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc to enhance growth and aggressiveness of HCC cells. Accordingly, blockade of the FGF9-FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc axis may be an efficient therapeutic option for HCC patients.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 isoforms: Novel therapeutic targets for hepatocellular carcinoma?

UNLABELLED: Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) are frequently up-regulated in subsets of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we provide mechanistic insight that FGFR3 splice variants IIIb and IIIc impact considerably on the malignant phenotype of HCC cells. The occurrence of FGFR3 variants was analyzed in human HCC samples. In hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cell lines, FGFR3 isoforms were overexpressed by lentiviral constructs or down-modulated by small interfering RNA (siRNA; affecting FGFR3-IIIb and -IIIc) or an adenoviral kinase-dead FGFR3-IIIc construct (kdFGFR3). Elevated levels of FGFR3-IIIb and/or -IIIc were found in 53% of HCC cases. FGFR3-IIIb overexpression occurred significantly more often in primary tumors of large (pT2-4) than of small size (pT1). Furthermore, one or both isoforms were enhanced mostly in cases with early tumor infiltration and/or recurrence at the time of surgery or follow-up examinations. In hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells, up-regulated FGFR3-IIIb conferred an enhanced capability for proliferation. Both FGFR3-IIIb and FGFR3-IIIc suppressed apoptotic activity, enhanced clonogenic growth, and induced disintegration of the blood/lymph endothelium. The tumorigenicity of cells in severe combined immunodeficiency mice was augmented to a larger degree by variant IIIb than by IIIc. Conversely, siRNA targeting FGFR3 and kdFGFR3 reduced clonogenicity, anchorage-independent growth, and disintegration of the blood/lymph endothelium in vitro. Furthermore, kdFGFR3 strongly attenuated tumor formation in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Deregulated FGFR3 variants exhibit specific effects in the malignant progression of HCC cells. Accordingly, blockade of FGFR3-mediated signaling may be a promising therapeutic approach to antagonize growth and malignant behavior of HCC cells.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4: a putative key driver for the aggressive phenotype of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Recently, we found upregulation of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in a subset of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we provide mechanistic insight into the role of FGFR4-mediated signalling for the aggressive behaviour of HCC cells. To overexpress FGFR4, hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells were transfected with a construct coding for FGFR4. For downmodulation of endogenous FGFR4, we used small interfering RNA or adenoviral infection with dominant-negative FGFR4 constructs being either kinase dead (kdFGFR4) or coding for the autoinhibitory soluble domain (solFGFR4). FGFR4 overexpression in non-tumourigenic hepatocarcinoma cells significantly reduced cell-matrix adhesion, enabled cells to grow anchorage-independently in soft agar, to disintegrate the lymph-/blood-endothelial barrier for intra-/extravasation of tumour cells and to form tumours in SCID mice. Transcriptome analysis revealed altered expression of genes involved in cell-matrix interactions. Conversely, in highly tumourigenic cell lines, kdFGFR4 or solFGFR4 lowered the proportion of cells in S phase of the cell cycle, enhanced the G0/G1 and G2/M-phase proportions, reduced anchorage-independent growth in vitro and attenuated disintegration of the lymph-/blood-endothelium and tumour formation in vivo. These findings were confirmed by altered expression profiles of genes being important for late stages of cell division. Deregulated FGFR4 expression appears to be one of the key drivers of the malignant phenotype of HCC cells. Accordingly, blockade of FGFR4-mediated signalling by soluble dominant-negative constructs, like solFGFR4, may be a feasible and promising therapeutic approach to antagonize aggressive behaviour of hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cells.

Novel p53-dependent anticancer strategy by targeting iron signaling and BNIP3L-induced mitophagy.

This study identifies BNIP3L as the key regulator of p53-dependent cell death mechanism in colon cancer cells targeted by the novel gallium based anticancer drug, KP46. KP46 specifically accumulated into mitochondria where it caused p53-dependent morphological and functional damage impairing mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics. Furthermore, competing with iron for cellular uptake, KP46 lowered the intracellular labile iron pools and intracellular heme. Accordingly, p53 accumulated in the nucleus where it activated its transcriptional target BNIP3L, a BH3 only domain protein with functions in apoptosis and mitophagy. Upregulated BNIP3L sensitized the mitochondrial permeability transition and strongly induced PARKIN-mediated mitochondrial clearance and cellular vacuolization. Downregulation of BNIP3L entirely rescued cell viability caused by exposure of KP46 for 24 hours, confirming that early induced cell death was regulated by BNIP3L. Altogether, targeting BNIP3L in wild-type p53 colon cancer cells is a novel anticancer strategy activating iron depletion signaling and the mitophagy-related cell death pathway.

Is fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 a suitable target of cancer therapy?

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and their tyrosine kinase receptors (FGFR) support cell proliferation, survival and migration during embryonic development, organogenesis and tissue maintenance and their deregulation is frequently observed in cancer development and progression. Consequently, increasing efforts are focusing on the development of strategies to target FGF/FGFR signaling for cancer therapy. Among the FGFRs the family member FGFR4 is least well understood and differs from FGFRs1-3 in several aspects. Importantly, FGFR4 deletion does not lead to an embryonic lethal phenotype suggesting the possibility that its inhibition in cancer therapy might not cause grave adverse effects. In addition, the FGFR4 kinase domain differs sufficiently from those of FGFRs1-3 to permit development of highly specific inhibitors. The oncogenic impact of FGFR4, however, is not undisputed, as the FGFR4-mediated hormonal effects of several FGF ligands may also constitute a tissue-protective tumor suppressor activity especially in the liver. Therefore it is the purpose of this review to summarize all relevant aspects of FGFR4 physiology and pathophysiology and discuss the options of targeting this receptor for cancer therapy.