Search

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts on LPA2 receptor to mediate multiple pathological effects that are associated with tumorigenesis. The absence of LPA2 attenuates tumor progression in rodent models of colorectal cancer, but whether overexpression of LPA2 alone can lead to malignant transformation in the intestinal tract has not been studied. In this study, we expressed human LPA2 in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) under control of the villin promoter. Less than 4% of F1-generation mice had germline transmission of transgenic (TG) human LPA2; as such only 3 F1 mice out of 72 genotyped had TG expression. These TG mice appeared anemic with hematochezia and died shortly after birth. TG mice were smaller in size compared with the wild type mouse of the same age and sex. Morphological analysis showed that TG LPA2 colon had hyper-proliferation of IECs resulting in increased colonic crypt depth. Surprisingly, TG small intestine had villus blunting and decreased IEC proliferation and dysplasia. In both intestine and colon, TG expression of LPA2 compromised the terminal epithelial differentiation, consistent with epithelial dysplasia. Furthermore, we showed that epithelial dysplasia was observed in founder mouse intestine, correlating LPA2 overexpression with epithelial dysplasia. The current study demonstrates that overexpression of LPA2 alone can lead to intestinal dysplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine that has broad effects on immune system and inflammatory response. A growing body of evidence implicates the role of MIF in tumor growth and metastasis. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive lipid mediator, regulates colon cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and survival through LPA2 receptor. Loss of LPA2 results in decreased expression of MIF in a rodent model of colon cancer, but the mechanism of MIF regulation by LPA is yet to be determined. In this study, we show that LPA transcriptionally regulates MIF expression in colon cancer cells. MIF knockdown decreased LPA-mediated proliferation of HCT116 human adenocarcinoma cells without altering the basal proliferation rates. Conversely, extracellular recombinant MIF stimulated cell proliferation, suggesting that the effect of MIF may in part be mediated through activation of surface receptor. We have shown recently that LPA increases hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) expression. We found that MIF regulation by LPA was ablated by knockdown of HIF1α, indicating that MIF is a transcriptional target of HIF1α. Conversely, knockdown of MIF ablated an increase in HIF1α expression in LPA-treated cells, suggesting a reciprocal relationship between HIF1α and MIF. LPA stimulated co-immunoprecipitation of HIF1α and MIF, indicating that their association is necessary for stabilization of HIF1α. It has been shown previously that CSN9 signalosome subunit 5 (CSN5) interacts with HIF1α to stabilize HIF1α under aerobic conditions. We found that LPA did not alter expression of CSN5, but stimulated its interaction with HIF1α and MIF. Depletion of CSN5 mitigated the association between HIF1α and MIF, indicating that CSN5 acts as a physical link. We suggest that HIF1α, MIF, and CSN5 form a ternary complex whose formation is necessary to prevent degradation of HIF1α under aerobic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metastasis, the spread and growth of tumor cells to distant organ sites, represents the most devastating attribute and plays a major role in the morbidity and mortality of cancer. Inflammation is crucial for malignant tumor transformation and survival. Thus, blocking inflammation is expected to serve as an effective cancer treatment. Among antiinflammation therapies, chemokine modulation is now beginning to emerge from the pipeline. CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12) interaction and the resulting cell signaling cascade have emerged as highly relevant targets since they play pleiotropic roles in metastatic progression. The unique function of CXCR4 is to promote the homing of tumor cells to their microenvironment at the distant organ sites. Methodology/Principal Findings: We describe the actions of N,N9-(1,4-phenylenebis(methylene))dipyrimidin-2-amine (designated MSX-122), a novel small molecule and partial CXCR4 antagonist with properties quite unlike that of any other reported CXCR4 antagonists, which was prepared in a single chemical step using a reductive amination reaction. Its specificity toward CXCR4 was tested in a binding affinity assay and a ligand competition assay using 18F-labeled MSX-122. The potency of the compound was determined in two functional assays, Matrigel invasion assay and cAMP modulation. The therapeutic potential of MSX-122 was evaluated in three different murine models for inflammation including an experimental colitis, carrageenan induced paw edema, and bleomycin induced lung fibrosis and three different animal models for metastasis including breast cancer micrometastasis in lung, head and neck cancer metastasis in lung, and uveal melanoma micrometastasis in liver in which CXCR4 was reported to play crucial roles. Conclusions/Significance: We developed a novel small molecule, MSX-122, that is a partial CXCR4 antagonist without mobilizing stem cells, which can be safer for long-term blockade of metastasis than other reported CXCR4 antagonists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts on LPA2 receptor to mediate multiple pathological effects that are associated with tumorigenesis. The absence of LPA2 attenuates tumor progression in rodent models of colorectal cancer, but whether overexpression of LPA2 alone can lead to malignant transformation in the intestinal tract has not been studied. In this study, we expressed human LPA2 in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) under control of the villin promoter. Less than 4% of F1-generation mice had germline transmission of transgenic (TG) human LPA2; as such only 3 F1 mice out of 72 genotyped had TG expression. These TG mice appeared anemic with hematochezia and died shortly after birth. TG mice were smaller in size compared with the wild type mouse of the same age and sex. Morphological analysis showed that TG LPA2 colon had hyper-proliferation of IECs resulting in increased colonic crypt depth. Surprisingly, TG small intestine had villus blunting and decreased IEC proliferation and dysplasia. In both intestine and colon, TG expression of LPA2 compromised the terminal epithelial differentiation, consistent with epithelial dysplasia. Furthermore, we showed that epithelial dysplasia was observed in founder mouse intestine, correlating LPA2 overexpression with epithelial dysplasia. The current study demonstrates that overexpression of LPA2 alone can lead to intestinal dysplasia.

Background: Metastasis, the spread and growth of tumor cells to distant organ sites, represents the most devastating attribute and plays a major role in the morbidity and mortality of cancer. Inflammation is crucial for malignant tumor transformation and survival. Thus, blocking inflammation is expected to serve as an effective cancer treatment. Among anti-inflammation therapies, chemokine modulation is now beginning to emerge from the pipeline. CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12) interaction and the resulting cell signaling cascade have emerged as highly relevant targets since they play pleiotropic roles in metastatic progression. The unique function of CXCR4 is to promote the homing of tumor cells to their microenvironment at the distant organ sites., Methodology/principal Findings: We describe the actions of N,N'-(1,4-phenylenebis(methylene))dipyrimidin-2-amine (designated MSX-122), a novel small molecule and partial CXCR4 antagonist with properties quite unlike that of any other reported CXCR4 antagonists, which was prepared in a single chemical step using a reductive amination reaction. Its specificity toward CXCR4 was tested in a binding affinity assay and a ligand competition assay using (18)F-labeled MSX-122. The potency of the compound was determined in two functional assays, Matrigel invasion assay and cAMP modulation. The therapeutic potential of MSX-122 was evaluated in three different murine models for inflammation including an experimental colitis, carrageenan induced paw edema, and bleomycin induced lung fibrosis and three different animal models for metastasis including breast cancer micrometastasis in lung, head and neck cancer metastasis in lung, and uveal melanoma micrometastasis in liver in which CXCR4 was reported to play crucial roles., Conclusions/significance: We developed a novel small molecule, MSX-122, that is a partial CXCR4 antagonist without mobilizing stem cells, which can be safer for long-term blockade of metastasis than other reported CXCR4 antagonists.