Exploring the Role of Osteosarcoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Pre-Metastatic Niche Formation and Metastasis in the 143-B Xenograft Mouse Osteosarcoma Model.

The pre-metastatic niche (PMN) is a tumor-driven microenvironment in distant organs that can foster and support the survival and growth of disseminated tumor cells. This facilitates the establishment of secondary lesions that eventually form overt metastasis, the main cause of cancer-related death. In recent years, tumor-derived extracellular-vesicles (EVs) have emerged as potentially key drivers of the PMN. The role of the PMN in osteosarcoma metastasis is poorly understood and the potential contribution of osteosarcoma cell-derived EVs to PMN formation has not been investigated so far. Here, we characterize pulmonary PMN development using the spontaneously metastasizing 143-B xenograft osteosarcoma mouse model. We demonstrate the accumulation of CD11b+ myeloid cells in the pre-metastatic lungs of tumor-bearing mice. We also establish that highly metastatic 143-B and poorly metastatic SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cell-derived EV education in naïve mice can recapitulate the recruitment of myeloid cells to the lungs. Surprisingly, despite EV-induced myeloid cell infiltration in the pre-metastatic lungs, 143-B and SAOS-2 EVs do not contribute towards the 143-B metastatic burden in the context of both spontaneous as well as experimental metastasis in severe-combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Taken together, OS-derived EVs alone may not be able to form a functional PMN, and may perhaps require a combination of tumor-secreted factors along with EVs to do so. Additionally, our study gives a valuable insight into the PMN complexity by providing the transcriptomic signature of the premetastatic lungs in an osteosarcoma xenograft model for the first time. In conclusion, identification of regulators of cellular and molecular changes in the pre-metastatic lungs might lead to the development of a combination therapies in the future that interrupt PMN formation and combat osteosarcoma metastasis.

Osteosarcoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Induce Lung Fibroblast Reprogramming.

Tumor-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as mediators of cancer-host intercellular communication and shown to support pre-metastatic niche formation by modulating stromal cells at future metastatic sites. While osteosarcoma, the most common primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents, has a high propensity for pulmonary metastases, the interaction of osteosarcoma cells with resident lung cells remains poorly understood. Here, we deliver foundational in vitro evidence that osteosarcoma cell-derived EVs drive myofibroblast/cancer-associated fibroblast differentiation. Human lung fibroblasts displayed increased invasive competence, in addition to increased α-smooth muscle actin expression and fibronectin production upon EV treatment. Furthermore, we demonstrate, through the use of transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1) inhibitors and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockouts, that TGFß1 present in osteosarcoma cell-derived EVs is responsible for lung fibroblast differentiation. Overall, our study highlights osteosarcoma-derived EVs as novel regulators of lung fibroblast activation and provides mechanistic insight into how osteosarcoma cells can modulate distant cells to potentially support metastatic progression.

The miR-143/145 Cluster, a Novel Diagnostic Biomarker in Chondrosarcoma, Acts as a Tumor Suppressor and Directly Inhibits Fascin-1.

Chondrosarcoma is the second most frequent bone sarcoma. Due to the inherent chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance and absence of known therapeutic targets, clinical management is limited to surgical resection. Consequently, patients with advanced disease face a poor prognosis. Hence, elucidating regulatory networks governing chondrosarcoma pathogenesis is vital for development of effective therapeutic strategies. Here, miRNA and mRNA next generation sequencing of different subtypes of human chondrogenic tumors in combination with in silico bioinformatics tools were performed with the aim to identify key molecular factors. We identified miR-143/145 cluster levels to inversely correlate with tumor grade. This deregulation was echoed in the miRNA plasma levels of patients and we provided the first evidence that circulating miR-145 is a potential noninvasive diagnostic biomarker and can be valuable as an indicator to improve the currently challenging diagnosis of cartilaginous bone tumors. Additionally, artificial upregulation of both miRNAs impelled a potent tumor suppressor effect in vitro and in vivo in an orthotopic xenograft mouse model. A combined in silico/sequencing approach revealed FSCN1 as a direct target of miR-143/145, and its depletion phenotypically resembled miR-143/145 upregulation in vitro. Last, FSCN1 is a malignancy-promoting factor associated with aggressive chondrosarcoma progression. Our findings underscore miR-143/145/FSCN1 as important players in chondrosarcoma and may potentially open new avenues for specific therapeutic intervention options. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

A bispecific antibody targeting IGF-IR and EGFR has tumor and metastasis suppressive activity in an orthotopic xenograft osteosarcoma mouse model.

Osteosarcoma is a highly aggressive bone cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer-associated death in childhood and adolescence. Pulmonary metastases account for the high mortality rate in osteosarcoma patients. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches, efficiently restraining the metastatic disease, are mandatory for a significant improvement of the currently poor patients' survival. Although initial studies with antibodies targeting insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) showed promising potential for the treatment of patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas, phase II clinical trials revealed variable results, which implied activation of alternative signaling pathways leading to therapy resistance. Since a cross-talk between IGF-IR and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been demonstrated in several cancer types, co-targeting of these two receptors was considered in the present study as a valuable therapeutic strategy to overcome single-agent treatment resistance in osteosarcoma. The effects of IGF-IR and/or EGFR targeting by intraperitoneal administration of the monospecific IGF-IR antibody R1507 or the EGFR antibody Cetuximab or the bispecific IGF-IR/EGFR antibody XGFR* on primary tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis were investigated in an intratibial human xenograft osteosarcoma mouse model. In vitro functional assays demonstrated that targeting IGF-IR and EGFR didn't affect osteosarcoma cell viability, but inhibited ligand-activated intracellular signaling and cell migratory capacity. The blocking potential of ligand-induced signaling in vitro was similar for all antibodies, but, in vivo, only XGFR* treatment significantly inhibited intratibial primary tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis. The therapeutic response to XGFR* was associated with an infiltration of innate immune system effector cells into the tumor microenvironment. Taken together, our study highlights the bispecific anti-IGF-IR/EGFR antibody XGFR* as an innovative promising effective candidate for the treatment of metastatic osteosarcoma and provides the rationale for future clinical studies.

Targeting αvß3 and αvß5 integrins inhibits pulmonary metastasis in an intratibial xenograft osteosarcoma mouse model.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive bone cancer that has a high propensity for metastasis to the lungs. Patients with metastatic disease face a very poor prognosis. Therefore, novel therapeutics, efficiently suppressing the metastatic process, are urgently needed. Integrins play a pivotal role in tumor cell adhesion, motility and metastasis. Here, we evaluated αvß3 and αvß5 integrin inhibition with cilengitide as a novel metastasis-suppressive therapeutic approach in osteosarcoma. Immunohistochemical analysis of αvß3 and αvß5 integrins expression in a tissue microarray of tumor specimens collected from osteosarcoma patients revealed that αvß5 integrin is mainly found on tumor cells, whereas αvß3 is predominantly expressed by stromal cells. In vitro functional assays demonstrated that cilengitide dose-dependently inhibited de novo adhesion, provoked detachment and inhibited migration of osteosarcoma cell lines. Cilengitide induced a decline in cell viability, blocked the cell cycle in the G1 phase and caused anoikis by activation of the Hippo pathway. In a xenograft orthotopic mouse model cilengitide minimally affected intratibial primary tumor growth but, importantly, suppressed pulmonary metastasis. The data demonstrate that targeting αvß3 and αvß5 integrins in osteosarcoma should be considered as a novel therapeutic option for patients with metastatic disease.

Explant culture of sarcoma patients' tissue.

Human sarcomas comprise a heterogeneous group of rare tumors that affect soft tissues and bone. Due to the scarcity and heterogeneity of these diseases, patient-derived cells that can be used for preclinical research are limited. In this study, we investigated whether the tissue explant technique can be used to obtain sarcoma cell lines from fresh as well as viable frozen tissue obtained from 8 out of 12 soft tissue and 9 out of 13 bone tumor entities as defined by the World Health Organization. The success rate, defined as the percent of samples that yielded sufficient numbers of outgrowing cells to be frozen, and the time to freeze were determined for a total of 734 sarcoma tissue specimens. In 552 cases (75%) enough cells were obtained to be frozen at early passage. Success rates were higher in bone tumors (82%) compared with soft tissue tumors (68%), and the mean time to freezing was lower in bone tumors (65 days) compared with soft tissue tumors (84 days). Overall, from 40% of the tissues cells could be frozen at early passage within <2 month after tissue removal. Comparable results as with fresh tissue were obtained after explant of viable frozen patient-derived material. In a selected number of bone and soft tissue sarcoma entities, conventional karyotyping and/or FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) analysis revealed a high amount (>60%) of abnormal cells in 41% of analyzed samples, especially in bone sarcomas (osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma). In conclusion, the explant technique is well suited to establish patient-derived cell lines for a large majority of bone and soft tissue sarcoma entities with adequate speed. This procedure thus opens the possibility for molecular analysis and drug testing for therapeutic decision making even during patient treatment.

Genomic instability of osteosarcoma cell lines in culture: impact on the prediction of metastasis relevant genes.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is a rare but highly malignant cancer of the bone. As a consequence, the number of established cell lines used for experimental in vitro and in vivo osteosarcoma research is limited and the value of these cell lines relies on their stability during culture. Here we investigated the stability in gene expression by microarray analysis and array genomic hybridization of three low metastatic cell lines and derivatives thereof with increased metastatic potential using cells of different passages. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The osteosarcoma cell lines showed altered gene expression during in vitro culture, and it was more pronounced in two metastatic cell lines compared to the respective parental cells. Chromosomal instability contributed in part to the altered gene expression in SAOS and LM5 cells with low and high metastatic potential. To identify metastasis-relevant genes in a background of passage-dependent altered gene expression, genes involved in "Pathways in cancer" that were consistently regulated under all passage comparisons were evaluated. Genes belonging to "Hedgehog signaling pathway" and "Wnt signaling pathway" were significantly up-regulated, and IHH, WNT10B and TCF7 were found up-regulated in all three metastatic compared to the parental cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable instability during culture in terms of gene expression and chromosomal aberrations was observed in osteosarcoma cell lines. The use of cells from different passages and a search for genes consistently regulated in early and late passages allows the analysis of metastasis-relevant genes despite the observed instability in gene expression in osteosarcoma cell lines during culture.

An in vitro osteosarcoma 3D microtissue model for drug development.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumour in children and adolescents. Therapy today includes surgical removal of the tumour and neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy. The 5-year survival rates for patients with localised disease are between 50 and 70%, but in patients with metastases the prognosis remains poor (∼ 20%). The aim of this study was the development of a biological relevant OS 3D microtissue model, which is suitable for drug development. Microtissues were formed by the hanging drop method with the established OS cell lines SaOS-2, HOS and MG-63, as well as with cells derived from osteoblastic and chondroblastic OS patient material. Histological characterisation of the microtissues with H/E- and Ki-67-(proliferation), as well as apoptosis staining (TUNEL) revealed the inherent histological heterogeneity of OS. Microtissues from SaOS-2 and HOS cell lines were exposed to doxorubicin, cisplatin, taurolidine, pemetrexed and taxol and the viability was assessed by the CellTiter-GLO(®) Luminescent Cell Viability Assay. The obtained IC50-values for 3D cultures were all higher (1.7 to >16,000-fold) when compared to corresponding cells grown in 2D monolayer culture, except for pemetrexed that was inactive in 2D and 3D cultures. Doxorubicin did not affect the viability of chondroblastic monolayer cultures whereas on 3D microtissues an IC50-value of 2.3 µM was obtained. The 3D microtissues reflect the tissue heterogeneity of OS and are potential suitable tools for drug development towards personalised medicine.

Reduced Latency in the Metastatic Niche Contributes to the More Aggressive Phenotype of LM8 Compared to Dunn Osteosarcoma Cells.

Metastasis is the major cause of death of osteosarcoma patients and its diagnosis remains difficult. In preclinical studies, however, forced expression of reporter genes in osteosarcoma cells has remarkably improved the detection of micrometastases and, consequently, the quality of the studies. We recently showed that Dunn cells equipped with a lacZ reporter gene disseminated from subcutaneous primary tumors as frequently as their highly metastatic subline LM8, but only LM8 cells grew to macrometastases. In the present time-course study, tail-vein-injected Dunn and LM8 cells settled within 24 h at the same frequency in the lung, liver, and kidney of mice. Furthermore, Dunn cells also grew to macrometastases, but, compared to LM8, with a delay of two weeks in lung and one week in liver and kidney tissue, consistent with prolonged survival of the mice. Dunn- and LM8-cell-derived ovary and spine metastases occurred less frequently. In vitro, Dunn cells showed less invasiveness and stronger contact inhibition and intercellular adhesion than LM8 cells and several cancer- and dormancy-related genes were differentially expressed. In conclusion, Dunn cells, compared to LM8, have a similar capability but a longer latency to form macrometastases and provide an interesting new experimental system to study tumor cell dormancy.

Expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR7 in CXCR4-expressing human 143B osteosarcoma cells enhances lung metastasis of intratibial xenografts in SCID mice.

More effective treatment of metastasizing osteosarcoma with a current mean 5-year survival rate of less than 20% requires more detailed knowledge on mechanisms and key regulatory molecules of the complex metastatic process. CXCR4, the receptor of the chemokine CXCL12, has been reported to promote tumor progression and metastasis in osteosarcoma. CXCR7 is a recently deorphanized CXCL12-scavenging receptor with so far not well-defined functions in tumor biology. The present study focused on a potential malignancy enhancing function of CXCR7 in interaction with CXCR4 in osteosarcoma, which was investigated in an intratibial osteosarcoma model in SCID mice, making use of the human 143B osteosarcoma cell line that spontaneously metastasizes to the lung and expresses endogenous CXCR4. 143B osteosarcoma cells stably expressing LacZ (143B-LacZ cells) were retrovirally transduced with a gene encoding HA-tagged CXCR7 (143B-LacZ-X7-HA cells). 143B-LacZ-X7-HA cells co-expressing CXCR7 and CXCR4 exhibited CXCL12 scavenging and enhanced adhesion to IL-1ß-activated HUVEC cells compared to 143B-LacZ cells expressing CXCR4 alone. SCID mice intratibially injected with 143B-LacZ-X7-HA cells had significantly (p<0.05) smaller primary tumors, but significantly (p<0.05) higher numbers of lung metastases than mice injected with 143B-LacZ cells. Unexpectedly, 143B-LacZ-X7-HA cells, unlike 143B-LacZ cells, also metastasized with high incidence to the auriculum cordis. In conclusion, expression of the CXCL12 scavenging receptor CXCR7 in the CXCR4-expressing human 143B osteosarcoma cell line enhances its metastatic activity in intratibial primary tumors in SCID mice that predominantly metastasize to the lung and thereby closely mimic the human disease. These findings point to CXCR7 as a target, complementary to previously proposed CXCR4, for more effective metastasis-suppressive treatment in osteosarcoma.

Evaluation of quercetin as a potential drug in osteosarcoma treatment.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in children and young adults. Since the introduction of chemotherapy, the 5-year survival rate of patients with non-metastatic osteosarcoma is ~70%. The main problems in osteosarcoma therapy are the occurrence of metastases, severe side-effects and chemoresistance. Antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of quercetin were shown in several types of cancers, including breast cancer and lung carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study investigates the cytotoxic potential of quercetin, a dietary flavonoid, in a highly metastasizing human osteosarcoma cell line, 143B. RESULTS: We found that quercetin induces growth inhibition, G2/M phase arrest, and apoptosis in the 143B osteosarcoma cell line. We also observed impaired adhesion and migratory potential after the addition of quercetin. CONCLUSION: Since quercetin has already been shown to have low side effects in a clinical phase I trial in advanced cancer patients, this compound may have considerable potential for osteosarcoma treatment.

Silencing of CD44 gene expression in human 143-B osteosarcoma cells promotes metastasis of intratibial tumors in SCID mice.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most frequent primary malignant bone cancer in children and adolescents with a high propensity for lung metastasis. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify molecular markers leading to increased metastatic potential in order to devise more effective therapeutic strategies that suppress metastasis, the major cause of death in OS. CD44, the principal receptor for the extracellular matrix component hyaluronan (HA), is frequently found overexpressed in tumor cells and has been implicated in metastatic spread in various cancer types. Here, we investigated the effects of stable shRNA-mediated silencing of CD44 gene products on in vitro and in vivo metastatic properties of the highly metastatic human 143-B OS cell line. In vitro, CD44 knockdown resulted in a 73% decrease in the adhesion to HA, a 57% decrease in the migration rate in a trans-filter migration assay, and a 28% decrease in the cells' capacity for anchorage-independent growth in soft agar compared to the control cells, implicating that CD44 expression contributes to the metastatic activity of 143-B cells. However, making use of an orthotopic xenograft OS mouse model, we demonstrated that reduced CD44 expression facilitated primary tumor growth and formation of pulmonary metastases. The enhanced malignant phenotype was associated with decreased adhesion to HA and reduced expression of the tumor suppressor merlin in vivo. In conclusion, our study identified CD44 as a metastasis suppressor in this particular experimental OS model.

Caprin-1, a novel Cyr61-interacting protein, promotes osteosarcoma tumor growth and lung metastasis in mice.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancy in children and adolescents. More than 30% of patients develop lung metastasis, which is the leading cause of mortality. Recently, the extracellular matrix protein Cyr61 has been recognized as a malignancy promoting protein in OS mouse model with prognostic potential in human OS. In this study, we aimed at the identification of novel Cyr61-interacting proteins. Here we report that Cyr61 associates with Caprin-1, and confocal microscopy showed that stable ectopic expression of Caprin-1 leads to the formation of stress granules containing Caprin-1 and Cyr61, confers resistance to cisplatin-induced apoptosis, and resulted in constitutive phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2. Importantly, ectopic expression of Caprin-1 dramatically enhanced primary tumor growth, remarkably increased lung metastatic load in a SCID intratibial OS mouse model, and decreased significantly (p<0.0018) the survival of the mice. Although Caprin-1 expression, evaluated with a tissue microarray including samples from 59 OS patients, failed to be an independent predictor for the patients' outcome in this limited cohort of patients, increased Caprin-1 expression indicated a tendency to shortened overall survival, and more strikingly, Cyr61/Caprin-1 co-expression was associated with worse survival than that observed for patients with tumors expressing either Cyr61 or Caprin-1 alone or none of these proteins. The findings imply that Caprin-1 may have a metastasis promoting role in OS and show that through resistance to apoptosis and via the activation of Akt and ERK1/2 pathways, Caprin-1 is significantly involved in the development of OS metastasis.

CD44 enhances tumor formation and lung metastasis in experimental osteosarcoma and is an additional predictor for poor patient outcome.

Formation of metastases in the lungs is the major cause of death in patients suffering from osteosarcoma (OS). Metastases at presentation and poor response to preoperative chemotherapy are strong predictors for poor patient outcome. The elucidation of molecular markers that promote metastasis formation and/or chemoresistance is therefore of importance. CD44 is a plasma membrane glycoprotein that binds to the extracellular matrix component hyaluronan (HA) and has been shown to be involved in metastasis formation in a variety of other tumors. Here we investigated the role of CD44 expression on OS tumor formation and metastasis. High CD44 expression, evaluated with a tissue microarray including samples from 53 OS patients and stained with a pan-CD44 antibody (Hermes3), showed a tendency (p < 0.08) to shortened overall survival. However, nonresponders and patients with lung metastases and high CD44 expression had significantly poorer prognosis than patients with low CD44 expression. Overexpression of the standard CD44 isoform (CD44s) and its HA-binding defective mutant R41A in osteoblastic SaOS-2 cells resulted in HA-independent higher migration rates and increased chemoresistance, partially dependent on HA. In an orthotopic mouse model of OS, overexpression of CD44s in SaOS-2 cells resulted in an HA-dependent increased primary tumor formation and increased numbers of micrometastases and macrometastases in the lungs. In conclusion, although CD44 failed to be an independent predictor for patient outcome in this limited cohort of OS patients, increased CD44 expression was associated with even worse survival in patients with chemoresistance and with lung metastases. CD44-associated chemoresistance was also observed in vitro, and increased formation of lung metastases was found in vivo in SCID mice.

Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 promotes tumor formation and lung metastasis in an intratibial injection osteosarcoma mouse model.

Proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is an important process during tumor invasion. Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) is one of the proteases that degrade collagen type I, a major component of bone ECM. In the present study, the biological relevance of MMP-1 in osteosarcoma (OS) tumor growth and metastasis was investigated in vitro and in vivo. Human OS cells in primary culture expressed MMP-1 encoding mRNA at considerably higher levels than normal human bone cells. In addition, MMP-1 mRNA and protein expression in the highly metastatic human osteosarcoma 143-B cell line was remarkably higher than in the non-metastatic parental HOS cell line. Stable shRNA-mediated downregulation of MMP-1 in 143-B cells impaired adhesion to collagen I and anchorage-independent growth, reflected by a reduced ability to grow in soft agar. Upon intratibial injection into SCID mice, 143-B cells with shRNA-downregulated MMP-1 expression formed smaller primary tumors and significantly lower numbers of lung micro- and macrometastases than control cells. Conversely, HOS cells stably overexpressing MMP-1 showed an enhanced adhesion capability to collagen I and accelerated anchorage-independent growth compared to empty vector-transduced control cells. Furthermore, and most importantly, individual MMP-1 overexpression in HOS cells enabled the formation of osteolytic primary tumors and lung metastasis while the HOS control cells did not develop any tumors or metastases after intratibial injection. The findings of the present study reveal an important role of MMP-1 in OS primary tumor and metastasis formation to the lung, the major organ of OS metastasis.

Genes regulated in metastatic osteosarcoma: evaluation by microarray analysis in four human and two mouse cell line systems.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a rare bone neoplasm that affects mainly adolescents. It is associated with poor prognosis in case of metastases formation. The search for metastasis predicting markers is therefore imperative to optimize treatment strategies for patients at risk and important for the search of new drugs for the treatment of this devastating disease. Here, we have analyzed by microarray the differential gene expression in four human and two mouse OS cell line systems consisting of parental cell lines with low metastatic potential and derivatives thereof with increased metastatic potential. Using two osteoblastic cell line systems, the most common OS phenotype, we have identified forty-eight common genes that are differentially expressed in metastatic cell lines compared to parental cells. The identified subset of metastasis relevant genes in osteoblastic OS overlapped only minimally with differentially expressed genes in the other four preosteoblast or nonosteoblastic cell line systems. The results imply an OS phenotype specific expression pattern of metastasis regulating proteins and form a basis for further investigation of gene expression profiles in patients' samples combined with survival analysis with the aim to optimize treatment strategies to develop new drugs and to consequently improve the survival of patients with the most common form of osteoblastic OS.

mTHPC-mediated photodynamic therapy is effective in the metastatic human 143B osteosarcoma cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive therapeutic modality approved for palliative and curative treatment of some forms of local cancers, precancerous lesions and nononcological disorders. As a prerequisite for future studies in animal models aiming at an intraoperative application of PDT in osteosarcoma (OS), in the present study, we investigated the uptake and the dark- and photo-toxicity of the photosensitizer mTHPC in the metastatic human OS cell line 143B, which, intratibially injected into SCID mice, reproduces spontaneous, aggressive lung metastasis, the main cause of death in OS patients. The uptake of mTHPC by 143B cells was time- and dose-dependent. mTHPC accumulated to higher levels in the 143B than in the parental low-metastatic HOS cell line. A significant decrease in viability of 143B cells, reflecting mTHPC dark-toxicity, occurred upon incubation in the dark at mTHPC concentrations ≥2.5 µg mL(-1). In phototoxicity experiments with illumination by 652 nm laser light (2.5-10 J cm(-2)), the half-maximal lethal doses of mTHPC ranged from 0.012 to 0.047 µg mL(-1). This treatment activated caspase-3, -7 and -9 and Z-VAD-FMK-inhibitable PARP cleavage, indicating caspase-dependent apoptosis. In conclusion, PDT with mTHPC is effective in the metastatic 143B human osteosarcoma cell line in vitro.

Cyr61 expression in osteosarcoma indicates poor prognosis and promotes intratibial growth and lung metastasis in mice.

Osteosarcoma is the most frequent primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents with a high propensity for lung metastasis, the major cause of disease-related death. Reliable outcome-predictive markers and targets for osteosarcoma metastasis-suppressing drugs are urgently needed for more effective treatment of metastasizing osteosarcoma, which has a current mean 5-year survival rate of approximately 20%. This study investigated the prognostic value and the biological relevance of the extracellular matrix-associated growth factor Cyr61 of the CCN family of secreted proteins in osteosarcoma and metastasis. The prognostic value of Cyr61 was assessed with Kaplan-Meier analyses based on Cyr61 immunostaining of a tissue microarray of osteosarcoma biopsies collected from 60 patients with local or metastatic disease. Effects of Cyr61 overexpression on intratibial tumor growth and lung metastasis of the low metastatic human SaOS-2 osteosarcoma cell line were examined in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Cyr61-provoked signaling was studied in vitro in nonmanipulated SaOS-2 cells. Cyr61 immunostaining of osteosarcoma tissue cores correlated significantly (p = 0.02) with poor patient survival. Mice intratibially injected with Cyr61-overexpressing SaOS-2 cells showed faster tumor growth and an increase in number and outgrowth of lung metastases and consequently significantly (p = 0.0018) shorter survival than mice injected with control SaOS-2 cells. Cyr61-evoked PI-3K/Akt/GSK3ß signaling in SaOS-2 cells resulted in a subcellular redistribution of the cell cycle inhibitor p21(Cip1/WAF1). Cyr61 has considerable potential as a novel marker for poor prognosis in osteosarcoma and is an attractive target for primary tumor- and metastases-suppressing drugs.

Antimetastatic activity of honokiol in osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Metastasizing osteosarcoma has a mean 5-year survival rate of only 20% to 30%. Therefore, novel chemotherapeutics for more effective treatment of this disease are required. METHODS: The antineoplastic activity of honokiol, which was demonstrated previously in numerous malignancies, was studied in vivo in C3H mice subcutaneously injected with syngeneic ß-galactosidase bacterial gene (lacZ)-expressing LM8 osteosarcoma (LM8-lacZ) cells. In vitro cytotoxic effects of honokiol were investigated in 8 human and 2 murine osteosarcoma cell lines with different in vivo metastatic potential. RESULTS: Seven days after subcutaneous flank injection of LM8-lacZ cells, daily intraperitoneal treatment of mice with 150 mg/kg honokiol reduced the number of micrometastases in the lung by 41% and reduced the number of macrometastases in the lung and liver by 69% and 80%, respectively, compared with control. Primary tumor growth was not inhibited. In osteosarcoma cell lines, honokiol inhibited the metabolic activity with a half-maximal concentration (IC(50) ) between 8.0 µg/mL and 16 µg/mL. Cyclosporin A partially reversed the inhibition of metabolic activity in LM8-lacZ cells. Cell proliferation and wound healing migration of LM8-lacZ cells were inhibited by honokiol with an IC(50) between 5.0 µg/mL and 10 µg/mL. Higher concentrations caused rapid cell death, which was distinct from necrosis, apoptosis, or autophagy but was associated with swelling of the endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasmic vacuolation, and morphologically altered mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS: Honokiol exhibited prominent antimetastatic activity in experimental osteosarcoma and caused rapid cell death in vitro that was unrelated to necrosis, apoptosis, or autophagy. The authors concluded that honokiol has considerable potential for the treatment of metastasizing osteosarcoma.

LacZ transgene expression in the subcutaneous Dunn/LM8 osteosarcoma mouse model allows for the identification of micrometastasis.

More effective treatment of patients with metastasizing osteosarcoma (OS) with a mean 5-year survival rate of <20% requires more detailed knowledge on the complex mechanisms of metastasis for the design of new drugs, which selectively target metastasizing cells. Moreover, novel diagnostic imaging technology for early detection of metastases is needed. Mouse models, which reproduce human metastasizing OS and allow visualization of single metastatic cells are instrumental for preclinical testing of new pharmaceuticals and diagnostic instruments. Here, the low metastatic Dunn cell line and its highly metastatic LM8 subline, both equipped with a constitutively expressed lacZ gene, were used to improve the well-established OS models in syngeneic C3H mice to achieve ex vivo visualization of single metastatic cells in affected organs by X-gal staining. These models, combined with a technique for in situ high quality lung tissue-maintaining perfusion revealed, as a novel finding, single metastasizing Dunn cells in lung and liver. Importantly, constitutive lacZ gene expression did not affect in vitro and in vivo tumorigenic and metastatic properties of Dunn and LM8 cells. Thus, these improved Dunn and LM8 OS mouse models will in the future serve as a benchmark for the development of new metastasis-targeting drugs and metastasis-imaging technology.