Revistas
Revista:
ONCOTARGET
ISSN:
1949-2553
Año:
2016
Vol.:
7
N°:
16
Págs.:
22752 - 22769
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, which highlights the need of innovative therapeutic options. Although targeted therapies can be successfully used in a subset of patients with lung adenocarcinomas (ADC), they are not appropriate for patients with squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). In addition, there is an unmet need for the identification of prognostic biomarkers that can select patients at risk of relapse in early stages. Here, we have used several cohorts of NSCLC patients to analyze the prognostic value of both protein expression and DNA promoter methylation status of the prometastatic serine protease TMPRSS4. Moreover, expression and promoter methylation was evaluated in a panel of 46 lung cancer cell lines. We have demonstrated that a high TMPRSS4 expression is an independent prognostic factor in SCC. Similarly, aberrant hypomethylation in tumors, which correlates with high TMPRSS4 expression, is an independent prognostic predictor in SCC. The inverse correlation between expression and methylation status was also observed in cell lines. In vitro studies showed that treatment of cells lacking TMPRSS4 expression with a demethylating agent significantly increased TMPRSS4 levels. In conclusion, TMPRSS4 is a novel independent prognostic biomarker regulated by epigenetic changes in SCC and a potential therapeutic target in this tumor type, where targeted therapy is still underdeveloped.
Revista:
CANCER LETTERS
ISSN:
0304-3835
Año:
2016
Vol.:
370
N°:
2
Págs.:
165 - 176
Metastasis involves a series of changes in cancer cells that promote their escape from the primary tumor and colonization to a new organ. This process is related to the transition from an epithelial to a mesenchymal phenotype (EMT). Recently, some authors have shown that migratory cells with an EMT phenotype share properties of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which allow them to form a new tumor mass. The type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS4 is highly expressed in some solid tumors, promotes metastasis and confers EMT features to cancer cells. We hypothesized that TMPRSS4 could also provide CSC properties. Overexpression of TMPRSS4 reduces E-cadherin and induces N-cadherin and vimentin in A549 lung cancer cells, supporting an EMT phenotype. These changes are accompanied by enhanced migration, invasion and tumorigenicity in vivo. TMPRSS4 expression was highly increased in a panel of lung cancer cells cultured as tumorspheres (a typical assay to enrich for CSCs). H358 and H441 cells with knocked-down TMPRSS4 levels were significantly less able to form primary and secondary tumorspheres than control cells. Moreover, they showed a lower proportion of ALDH+ cells (examined by FACS analysis) and lower expression of some CSC markers than controls. A549 cells overexpressing TMPRSS4 conferred the opposite phenotype and were also more sensitive to the CSC-targeted drug salinomycin than control cells, but were more resistant to regular chemotherapeutic drugs (cisplatin, gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil). Analysis of 70 NSCLC samples from patients revealed a very significant correlation between TMPRSS4 expression and CSC markers ALDH (p¿=¿0.0018) and OCT4 (p¿=¿0.0004), suggesting that TMPRSS4 is associated with a CSC phenotype in patients' tumors. These results show that TMPRSS4, in addition to inducing EMT, can also promote CSC features in lung cancer; therefore, CSC-targeting drugs could be an appropriate treatment for TMPRSS4+ tumors.
Revista:
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER
ISSN:
0007-0920
Año:
2014
Vol.:
110
N°:
3
Págs.:
764 - 774
BACKGROUND:
TMPRSS4 is a membrane-anchored protease involved in cell migration and invasion in different cancer types including lung cancer. TMPRSS4 expression is increased in NSCLC and its inhibition through shRNA reduces lung metastasis. However, molecular mechanisms leading to the protumorigenic regulation of TMPRSS4 in lung cancer are unknown.
METHODS:
miR-205 was identified as an overexpressed gene upon TMPRSS4 downregulation through microarray analysis. Cell migration and invasion assays and in vivo lung primary tumour and metastasis models were used for functional analysis of miR-205 overexpression in H2170 and H441 cell lines. Luciferase assays were used to identify a new miR-205 direct target in NSCLC.
RESULTS:
miR-205 overexpression promoted an epithelial phenotype with increased E-cadherin and reduced fibronectin. Furthermore, miR-205 expression caused a G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and inhibition of cell growth, migration, attachment to fibronectin, primary tumour growth and metastasis formation in vivo. Integrin ¿5 (a proinvasive protein) was identified as a new miR-205 direct target in NSCLC. Integrin ¿5 downregulation in lung cancer cells resulted in complete abrogation of cell migration, a decreased capacity to adhere to fibronectin and reduced in vivo tumour growth, compared with control cells. TMPRSS4 silencing resulted in a concomitant reduction of integrin ¿5 levels.
CONCLUSION:
We have demonstrated for the first time a new molecular pathway that connects TMPRSS4 and integrin ¿5 through miR-205 to regulate cancer cell invasion and metastasis. Our results will help designing new therapeutic strategies to inhibit this novel pathway in NSCLC.
Revista:
HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY
ISSN:
0213-3911
Año:
2013
Vol.:
28
N°:
8
Págs.:
1029 - 1040
Inhibitor of differentiation-1 (Id1) plays a role in cell proliferation, acquisition of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) features and angiogenesis. Id1 was shown to be expressed in some tumor types, mainly in advanced dedifferentiated stages. However, recent studies using a validated and highly specific monoclonal antibody against Id1 have challenged many of the results obtained by immunohistochemistry. The goal of our work was to perform a thorough analysis of Id1 expression in mouse embryos and adult tissues, as well as healthy and malignant mouse and human samples using this validated antibody (Perk et al., 2006). Our results show that Id1 was highly expressed in the oropharyngeal cavity, lung, cartilage and skin of E14 and E15 mouse embryos, but expression was progressively reduced in more developed embryos. Immunostaining only remained in epithelial cells of the gut and uterus of adult mice. Mammary MMTV-Myc and MMTV-Myc/VEGF transgenic mouse tumors, and squamous cell carcinomas of the lung induced by N-nitroso-tris-chloroethylurea (NTCU) were highly positive for Id1, unlike their respective healthy counterparts. Id1 immunostaining in a human tissue microarray (TMA) revealed strong expression in cancers of the oral cavity, bladder and cervix. Some tumor specimens of esophagus, thyroid and breast were also strongly positive. Our results suggest that Id1 is an oncofetal protein highly expressed in particular tumor types that should be reanalyzed in future studies using large cohorts of patients to reassess its diagnostic/prognostic value. Moreover, MMTV-Myc- and NTCU-induced tumors could serve as appropriate mouse models to study Id1 functions in breast and lung cancer, respectively.
Nacionales y Regionales
Título:
TMPRSS4: un nuevo biomarcador y diana terapéutica en carcinoma escamoso de pulmón de mal pronóstico
Código de expediente:
PI16/01352
Investigador principal:
Alfonso Calvo González
Financiador:
INSTITUTO DE SALUD CARLOS III
Convocatoria:
2016 AES PROYECTOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Fecha de inicio:
01/01/2017
Fecha fin:
31/12/2019
Importe concedido:
98.615,00€
Otros fondos:
Fondos FEDER
Otros (PIUNA, fundaciones, contratos…)
Título:
A non-invasive liquid biopsy approach to evaluate the DNA methylation status in patients with NSCLC
Código de expediente:
2016-10
Investigador principal:
Carlos Eduardo De Andrea
Financiador:
UNIVERSIDAD DE NAVARRA
Convocatoria:
2016 PIUNA
Fecha de inicio:
01/09/2016
Fecha fin:
31/08/2019
Importe concedido:
43.000,00€