Adipose stem cell crosstalk with chemo-residual breast cancer cells: implications for tumor recurrence.

PURPOSE: Most triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients exhibit an incomplete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, resulting in chemo-residual tumor cells that drive tumor recurrence and patient mortality. Accordingly, strategies for eliminating chemo-residual tumor cells are urgently needed. Although stromal cells contribute to tumor cell invasion, to date, their ability to influence chemo-residual tumor cell behavior has not been examined. Our study is the first to investigate cross-talk between adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) and chemo-residual TNBC cells. We examine if ASCs promote chemo-residual tumor cell proliferation, having implications for tumor recurrence. METHODS: ASC migration toward chemo-residual TNBC cells was tested in a transwell migration assay. Importance of the SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis was determined using neutralizing antibodies and a small molecule inhibitor. The ability of ASCs to drive tumor cell proliferation was analyzed by culturing tumor cells ± ASC conditioned media (CM) and determining cell counts. Downstream signaling pathways activated in chemo-residual tumor cells following their exposure to ASC CM were studied by immunoblotting. Importance of FGF2 in promoting proliferation was assessed using an FGF2-neutralizing antibody. RESULTS: ASCs migrated toward chemo-residual TNBC cells in a CXCR4/SDF-1α-dependent manner. Moreover, ASC CM increased chemo-residual tumor cell proliferation and activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). An FGF2-neutralizing antibody inhibited ASC-induced chemo-residual tumor cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: ASCs migrate toward chemo-residual TNBC cells via SDF-1α/CXCR4 signaling, and drive chemo-residual tumor cell proliferation in a paracrine manner by secreting FGF2 and activating ERK. This paracrine signaling can potentially be targeted to prevent tumor recurrence.

A Genoproteomic Approach to Detect Peptide Markers of Bacterial Respiratory Pathogens.

BACKGROUND: Rapid identification of respiratory pathogens may facilitate targeted antimicrobial therapy. Direct identification of bacteria in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry is confounded by interfering substances. We describe a method to identify unique peptide markers of 5 gram-negative bacteria by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for direct pathogen identification in BAL. METHODS: In silico translation and digestion were performed on 14-25 whole genomes representing strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, Moraxella catarrhalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Peptides constituting theoretical core peptidomes in each were identified. Rapid tryptic digestion was performed; peptides were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and compared with the theoretical core peptidomes. High-confidence core peptides (false discovery rate <1%) were identified and analyzed with the lowest common ancestor search to yield potential species-specific peptide markers. The species specificity of each peptide was verified with protein BLAST. Further, 1 or 2 pathogens were serially diluted into pooled inflamed BAL, and a targeted LC-MS/MS assay was used to detect 25 peptides simultaneously. RESULTS: Five unique peptides with the highest abundance for each pathogen distinguished these pathogens with varied detection sensitivities. Peptide markers for A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa, when spiked simultaneously into inflamed BAL, were detected with as few as 3.6 (0.2) × 103 and 2.2 (0.6) × 103 colony-forming units, respectively, by targeted LC-MS/MS. CONCLUSIONS: This proof-of-concept study shows the feasibility of identifying unique peptides in BAL for 5 gram-negative bacterial pathogens, and it may provide a novel approach for rapid direct identification of bacterial pathogens in BAL.

Role of C-C motif ligand 2 and C-C motif receptor 2 in murine pulmonary graft-versus-host disease after lipopolysaccharide inhalations.

Environmental exposures are a potential trigger of chronic pulmonary graft-versus-host disease (pGVHD) after successful recovery from hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). We hypothesized that inhalations of LPS, a prototypic environmental stimulus, trigger pGVHD via increased pulmonary recruitment of donor-derived antigen-presenting cells (APCs) through the C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL2)-C-C motif receptor 2 (CCR2) chemokine axis. B10.BR(H2(k)) and C57BL/6(H2(b)) mice underwent allogeneic (Allo) or syngeneic (Syn) HCT with wild-type (WT) C57BL/6, CCL2(-/-), or CCR2(-/-) donors. After 4 weeks, recipient mice received daily inhaled LPS for 5 days and were killed at multiple time points. Allo mice exposed to repeated inhaled LPS developed prominent lymphocytic bronchiolitis, similar to human pGVHD. The increase in pulmonary T cells in Allo mice after LPS exposures was accompanied by increased CCL2, CCR2, and Type-1 T-helper cytokines as well as by monocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) compared with Syn and nontransplanted controls. Using CCL2(-/-) donors leads to a significant decrease in lung DCs but to only mildly reduced CD4 T cells. Using CCR2(-/-) donors significantly reduces lung DCs and moDCs but does not change T cells. CCL2 or CCR2 deficiency does not alter pGVHD pathology but increases airway hyperreactivity and IL-5 or IL-13 cytokines. Our results show that hematopoietic donor-derived CCL2 and CCR2 regulate recruitment of APCs to the Allo lung after LPS exposure. Although they do not alter pathologic pGVHD, their absence is associated with increased airway hyperreactivity and IL-5 and IL-13 cytokines. These results suggest that the APC changes that result from CCL2-CCR2 blockade may have unexpected effects on T cell differentiation and physiologic outcomes in HCT.