HLA antigen expression on uveal melanoma cells in vivo and in vitro

This study explored the effects of the metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) on the development of uveal melanoma. Moreover, the role of the MALAT1/microRNA-608 (miR-608)/homeobox C4 (HOXC4) axis was assessed by evaluating the proliferation, invasion, and migration, as well as the cell cycle distribution of uveal melanoma in vitro after knocking down MALAT1 or HOXC4 and/or overexpression of miR-608 in uveal melanoma cells (MUM-2B and C918). Moreover, the effects of the MALAT1/miR-608/HOXC4 axis in uveal melanoma in vivo were further evaluated by injecting the C918 cells into the NOD/SCID mice. HOXC4 was found to be a gene upregulated in uveal melanoma, while knockdown of its expression resulted in suppression of uveal melanoma cell migration, proliferation, and invasion, as well as cell cycle progression. In addition, the upregulation of miR-608 reduced the expression of HOXC4 in the uveal melanoma cells, which was rescued by overexpression of MALAT1. Hence, MALAT1 could upregulate the HOXC4 by binding to miR-608. The suppressed progression of uveal melanoma in vitro by miR-608 was rescued by overexpression of MALAT1. Additionally, in vivo assays demonstrated that downregulation of MALAT1 could suppress tumor growth through downregulation of HOXC4 expression via increasing miR-608 in uveal melanoma. In summary, MALAT1 downregulation functions to restrain the development of uveal melanoma via miR-608-mediated inhibition of HOXC4.

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Ancylostoma caninum Anticoagulant Peptide Blocks Metastasis In Vivo and Inhibits Factor Xa Binding to Melanoma Cells In Vitro

Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0037-1615117 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 79 (05) ◽

pp. 1041-1047 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Kathleen M. Donnelly ◽

Michael E. Bromberg ◽

Aaron Milstone ◽

Jennifer Madison McNiff ◽

Gordon Terwilliger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Site ◽

Thrombin Generation ◽

Factor Xa ◽

Coagulation Factor ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Factor V ◽

Ancylostoma Caninum ◽

Metastatic Activity

SummaryWe evaluated the in vivo anti-metastatic activity of recombinant Ancylostoma caninum Anticoagulant Peptide (rAcAP), a potent (Ki = 265 pM) and specific active site inhibitor of human coagulation factor Xa originally isolated from bloodfeeding hookworms. Subcutaneous injection of SCID mice with rAcAP (0.01-0.2 mg/mouse) prior to tail vein injection of LOX human melanoma cells resulted in a dose dependent reduction in pulmonary metastases. In order to elucidate potential mechanisms of rAcAP’s anti-metastatic activity, experiments were carried out to identify specific interactions between factor Xa and LOX. Binding of biotinylated factor Xa to LOX monolayers was both specific and saturable (Kd = 15 nM). Competition experiments using antibodies to previously identified factor Xa binding proteins, including factor V/Va, effector cell protease receptor-1, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor failed to implicate any of these molecules as significant binding sites for Factor Xa. Functional prothrombinase activity was also supported by LOX, with a half maximal rate of thrombin generation detected at a factor Xa concentration of 2.4 nM. Additional competition experiments using an excess of either rAcAP or active site blocked factor Xa (EGR-Xa) revealed that most of the total factor Xa binding to LOX is mediated via interaction with the enzyme’s active site, predicting that the vast majority of cell-associated factor Xa does not participate directly in thrombin generation. In addition to establishing two distinct mechanisms of factor Xa binding to melanoma, these data raise the possibility that rAcAP’s antimetastatic effect in vivo might involve novel non-coagulant pathways, perhaps via inhibition of active-site mediated interactions between factor Xa and tumor cells.

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Treatment with Uncaria tomentosa Promotes Apoptosis in B16-BL6 Mouse Melanoma Cells and Inhibits the Growth of B16-BL6 Tumours

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26041066 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 1066

Author(s):

Ali Zari ◽

Hajer Alfarteesh ◽

Carly Buckner ◽

Robert Lafrenie

Keyword(s):

Tumour Size ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Tunel Staining ◽

Aqueous Extracts ◽

Ki 67 ◽

Uncaria Tomentosa ◽

Mouse Melanoma ◽

Anti Cancer

Uncaria tomentosa is a medicinal plant native to Peru that has been traditionally used in the treatment of various inflammatory disorders. In this study, the effectiveness of U. tomentosa as an anti-cancer agent was assessed using the growth and survival of B16-BL6 mouse melanoma cells. B16-BL6 cell cultures treated with both ethanol and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) extracts of U. tomentosa displayed up to 80% lower levels of growth and increased apoptosis compared to vehicle controls. Treatment with ethanolic extracts of Uncaria tomentosa were much more effective than treatment with aqueous extracts. U. tomentosa was also shown to inhibit B16-BL6 cell growth in C57/bl mice in vivo. Mice injected with both the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of U. tomentosa showed a 59 ± 13% decrease in B16-BL6 tumour weight and a 40 ± 9% decrease in tumour size. Histochemical analysis of the B16-BL6 tumours showed a strong reduction in the Ki-67 cell proliferation marker in U. tomentosa-treated mice and a small, but insignificant increase in terminal transferase dUTP nick labelling (TUNEL) staining. Furthermore, U. tomentosa extracts reduced angiogenic markers and reduced the infiltration of T cells into the tumours. Collectively, the results in this study concluded that U. tomentosa has potent anti-cancer activity that significantly inhibited cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

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The phosphatase Shp1 interacts with and dephosphorylates cortactin to inhibit invadopodia function

Cell Communication and Signaling ◽

10.1186/s12964-021-00747-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alessia Varone ◽

Chiara Amoruso ◽

Marcello Monti ◽

Manpreet Patheja ◽

Adelaide Greco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Extracellular Matrix ◽

Tyrosine Phosphatase ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Matrix Degradation ◽

Extracellular Matrix Degradation ◽

Invadopodia Formation ◽

Interference Rna

Abstract Background Invadopodia are actin-based cell-membrane protrusions associated with the extracellular matrix degradation accompanying cancer invasion. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms leading to invadopodia formation and activity is central for the prevention of tumor spreading and growth. Protein tyrosine kinases such as Src are known to regulate invadopodia assembly, little is however known on the role of protein tyrosine phosphatases in this process. Among these enzymes, we have selected the tyrosine phosphatase Shp1 to investigate its potential role in invadopodia assembly, due to its involvement in cancer development. Methods Co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence studies were employed to identify novel substrate/s of Shp1AQ controlling invadopodia activity. The phosphorylation level of cortactin, the Shp1 substrate identified in this study, was assessed by immunoprecipitation, in vitro phosphatase and western blot assays. Short interference RNA and a catalytically-dead mutant of Shp1 expressed in A375MM melanoma cells were used to evaluate the role of the specific Shp1-mediated dephosphorylation of cortactin. The anti-invasive proprieties of glycerophosphoinositol, that directly binds and regulates Shp1, were investigated by extracellular matrix degradation assays and in vivo mouse model of metastasis. Results The data show that Shp1 was recruited to invadopodia and promoted the dephosphorylation of cortactin at tyrosine 421, leading to an attenuated capacity of melanoma cancer cells to degrade the extracellular matrix. Controls included the use of short interference RNA and catalytically-dead mutant that prevented the dephosphorylation of cortactin and hence the decrease the extracellular matrix degradation by melanoma cells. In addition, the phosphoinositide metabolite glycerophosphoinositol facilitated the localization of Shp1 at invadopodia hence promoting cortactin dephosphorylation. This impaired invadopodia function and tumor dissemination both in vitro and in an in vivo model of melanomas. Conclusion The main finding here reported is that cortactin is a specific substrate of the tyrosine phosphatase Shp1 and that its phosphorylation/dephosphorylation affects invadopodia formation and, as a consequence, the ability of melanoma cells to invade the extracellular matrix. Shp1 can thus be considered as a regulator of melanoma cell invasiveness and a potential target for antimetastatic drugs.

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Activation of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase DDR1-STAT3 cascade by extracellular matrix remodeling promotes liver metastatic colonization in uveal melanoma

Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy ◽

10.1038/s41392-021-00563-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wei Dai ◽

Shenglan Liu ◽

Shubo Wang ◽

Li Zhao ◽

Xiao Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Extracellular Matrix ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Uveal Melanoma ◽

Specific Inhibitor ◽

Type I ◽

Matrix Remodeling ◽

Metastatic Colonization ◽

Tgf Β1

AbstractColonization is believed a rate-limiting step of metastasis cascade. However, its underlying mechanism is not well understood. Uveal melanoma (UM), which is featured with single organ liver metastasis, may provide a simplified model for realizing the complicated colonization process. Because DDR1 was identified to be overexpressed in UM cell lines and specimens, and abundant pathological deposition of extracellular matrix collagen, a type of DDR1 ligand, was noted in the microenvironment of liver in metastatic patients with UM, we postulated the hypothesis that DDR1 and its ligand might ignite the interaction between UM cells and their surrounding niche of liver thereby conferring strengthened survival, proliferation, stemness and eventually promoting metastatic colonization in liver. We tested this hypothesis and found that DDR1 promoted these malignant cellular phenotypes and facilitated metastatic colonization of UM in liver. Mechanistically, UM cells secreted TGF-β1 which induced quiescent hepatic stellate cells (qHSCs) into activated HSCs (aHSCs) which secreted collagen type I. Such a remodeling of extracellular matrix, in turn, activated DDR1, strengthening survival through upregulating STAT3-dependent Mcl-1 expression, enhancing stemness via upregulating STAT3-dependent SOX2, and promoting clonogenicity in cancer cells. Targeting DDR1 by using 7rh, a specific inhibitor, repressed proliferation and survival in vitro and in vivo outgrowth. More importantly, targeting cancer cells by pharmacological inactivation of DDR1 or targeting microenvironmental TGF-β1-collagen I loop exhibited a prominent anti-metastasis effect in mice. In conclusion, targeting DDR1 signaling and TGF-β signaling may be a novel approach to diminish hepatic metastasis in UM.

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The extracellular matrix of hybrids between melanoma cells and normal fibroblasts

Journal of Cell Science ◽

10.1242/jcs.91.2.281 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 281-286

Author(s):

M.C. Copeman ◽

H. Harris

Keyword(s):

Extracellular Matrix ◽

Protease Activity ◽

Malignant Tumour ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Chromosome Loss ◽

Type I ◽

Chromosome 4 ◽

Hybrid Cells

It has been shown that when malignant tumour cells are fused with normal fibroblasts the suppression of malignancy in the hybrids is linked to their ability to produce a collagenous extracellular matrix in vivo. When, as a consequence of chromosome loss, segregants arise that reacquire malignancy, these do not produce any detectable matrix. In this paper we examine the main components of the extracellular matrix produced in vitro by hybrids between malignant mouse melanoma cells and normal mouse fibroblasts. Hybrids in which malignancy is suppressed synthesize about ten times as much type 1 procollagen as the malignant segregants derived from them; they also retain more fibronectin in the cell layer and release less protease activity into the medium. Malignant segregants more closely resemble the parental melanoma cells in producing fibronectin and mainly types IV and V procollagen. When hybrid cells in which malignancy is initially suppressed are grown continuously in vitro, the production of type I procollagen declines, and the production of type V procollagen and the release of protease activity into the medium increase. These changes, which are associated with the loss from the hybrid cells of both copies of the chromosome 4 derived from the parental fibroblast, predict the reacquisition of malignancy when the cells are inoculated into mice. It is possible that one gene or set of genes located on chromosome 4 determines both the execution of the fibroblast differentiation programme and the suppression of malignancy.

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Correction to: Daphnane diterpenes inhibit the metastatic potential of B16F10 murine melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo

BMC Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12885-018-4805-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Myra O. Villareal ◽

Yuki Sato ◽

Kyoko Matsuyama ◽

Hiroko Isoda

Keyword(s):

Metastatic Potential ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Murine Melanoma ◽

Daphnane Diterpenes ◽

Murine Melanoma Cells

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Natural products with therapeutic potential in melanoma metastasis

Natural Product Reports ◽

10.1039/c4np00130c ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 32 (8) ◽

pp. 1170-1182 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

A. AlQathama ◽

J. M. Prieto

Keyword(s):

Natural Products ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Therapeutic Potential ◽

Melanoma Cells ◽

Mechanisms Of Action ◽

Melanoma Metastasis ◽

Pharmacological Effects ◽

Cytotoxic Compounds

Natural products continue to provide lead cytotoxic compounds for cancer treatment but less attention has been given to antimigratory compounds. We here systematically and critically survey more than 30 natural products with direct in vitro and in vivo pharmacological effects on migration and/or metastasis of melanoma cells and chart the mechanisms of action for this underexploited property.

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The tumor dormant state. Comparison of L5178Y cells used to establish dormancy with those that emerge after its termination.

Journal of Experimental Medicine ◽

10.1084/jem.149.3.745 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 149 (3) ◽

pp. 745-757 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

K J Weinhold ◽

D A Miller ◽

E F Wheelock

Keyword(s):

Tumor Cells ◽

Antigen Expression ◽

Cell Subpopulation ◽

Effector Cells ◽

Dormant State ◽

Quantitative Absorption ◽

Tumor Outgrowth ◽

In Vivo Growth

The tumor dormant state established in L5178Y immunized and challenged mice is characterized by a prolonged period of clinical normalcy followed by rapid tumor outgrowth. The tumor cells which emerged after termination of the tumor dormant state had abnormal marker chromosomes identical to those in the L5178Y cells used in the original challenge inoculum, indicating that the emergent tumor cells were progeny of the challenge inoculum. Original and emergent L5178Y cells had equivalent in vivo growth rates, when inoculated into normal DBA/2 mice. The emergent L5178Y cells were less susceptible than original cells to in vitro lysis by tumor dormant PC. Original and emergent L5178Y cells expressed common tumor-associated target antigens for cytolytic effector cells. Both modulation and masking of these target antigens were ruled out as mechanisms for decreased susceptibility to cell-mediated cytolysis. Immunofluorescence revealed heterogeneity in tumor-associated antigen expression within both original and emergent cell populations, with a decreased intensity of staining in the emergent population. Both populations were equally susceptible to lysis by alloimmune cells, alloantiserum, and anti-Thy 1.2 serum, but emergent cells were less susceptible to lysis by serum directed against L5178Y TAA. Quantitative absorption revealed that the emergent L5178Y cells expressed eightfold less serologically detectable TAA than the original cells. These findings indicate that the host immune response developing during establishment of the tumor dormant state selects a stable tumor cell subpopulation which expresses decreased amounts of surface tumor-associated target antigens.

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