Human placental trophoblast as an in vitro model for tumor progression

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
P K Lala ◽  
B P Lee ◽  
G Xu ◽  
C Chakraborty

The human placenta is a highly invasive tumor-like structure in which a subpopulation of placental trophoblast cells known as the "extravillous trophoblast" (EVT) invades the uterine decidua and its vasculature to establish adequate fetal–maternal exchange of molecules. By utilizing in vitro-propagated short-lived EVT cell lines we found that molecular mechanisms responsible for their invasiveness are identical to those of cancer cells; however, unlike cancer cells, their proliferation, migration, and invasiveness in situ are stringently controlled by decidua-derived transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. By SV40T antigen transfection of normal EVT cells followed by a forced crisis regimen in culture we produced an immortalized premalignant derivative that is hyperproliferative, hyperinvasive, and deficient in gap-junctional intercellular communication. Both premalignant and malignant EVT (JAR and JEG-3 choriocarcinoma) cell lines were found to be TGF-β-resistant. Using these cell lines, we investigated genetic changes responsible for transition of the normal EVT cells to premalignant and malignant phenotype. Hyperinvasiveness in both cases resulted from a downregulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease (TIMP)-1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 genes. In contrast to normal EVT cells, both cell types failed to upregulate these genes in response to TGF-β. Loss of TGF-β response in malignant EVT cells was explained by the loss of expression of Smad3 gene. Differential mRNA display of normal and premalignant EVT cells identified up- and down-regulation of numerous known or novel genes in premalignant EVT cells, with potential oncogenic and (or) tumor-suppressor functions, e.g., loss of fibronectin and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP-5). Premalignant EVT cells also lost IGF receptor type 2 (IGFR-II). IGFBP-5 was shown to be a negative regulator of IGF-1-induced proliferation of premalignant EVT cells, so that loss of IGFBP-5 as well as IGFR-II permitted their unrestricted proliferation in an IGF-I-rich microenvironment of the fetal–maternal interface. The present model may be a good prototype for identifying genetic changes underlying epithelial tumor progression.Key words: trophoblast, TGF-β, IGFBP-5, fibronectin, choriocarcinoma.

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
pp. 728-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sowmya Mekala ◽  
SubbaRao V. Tulimilli ◽  
Ramasatyaveni Geesala ◽  
Kanakaraju Manupati ◽  
Neha R. Dhoke ◽  
...  

Apoptotic hepatocytes release factors that activate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), thereby inducing hepatic fibrosis. In the present study, in vivo and in vitro injury models were established using acetaminophen, ethanol, carbon tetrachloride, or thioacetamide. Histology of hepatotoxicant-induced diseased hepatic tissue correlated with differential expression of fibrosis-related genes. A marked increase in co-staining of transforming growth factor β receptor type II (TGFRIIβ) – desmin or α-smooth muscle actin – platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFRβ), markers of activated HSCs, in liver sections of these hepatotoxicant-treated mice also depicted an increase in Annexin V – cytokeratin expressing hepatocytes. To understand the molecular mechanisms of disease pathology, in vitro experiments were designed using the conditioned medium (CM) of hepatotoxicant-treated HepG2 cells supplemented to HSCs. A significant increase in HSC proliferation, migration, and expression of fibrosis-related genes and protein was observed, thereby suggesting the characteristics of an activated phenotype. Treating HepG2 cells with hepatotoxicants resulted in a significant increase in mRNA expression of platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ). CM supplemented to HSCs resulted in increased phosphorylation of PDGFRβ and TGFRIIβ along with its downstream effectors, extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 and focal adhesion kinase. Neutralizing antibodies against PDGF-BB and TGFβ effectively perturbed the hepatotoxicant-treated HepG2 cell CM-induced activation of HSCs. This study suggests PDGF-BB and TGFβ as potential molecular targets for developing anti-fibrotic therapeutics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (66) ◽  
pp. 483
Author(s):  
SurapaneniKrishna Mohan ◽  
Murad Alsawalha ◽  
AbeerMohammed Al-Subaie ◽  
ReemYousuf Al-Jindan ◽  
SrinivasaRao Bolla ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Wang ◽  
Zhe Cheng ◽  
Lingling Dai ◽  
Tianci Jiang ◽  
Liuqun Jia ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in various human diseases. Recently, H19 was reported to be upregulated in fibrotic rat lung and play a stimulative role in bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. However, its expression in human fibrotic lung tissues and mechanism of action remain unclear. Here, our observations showed that H19 expression was significantly upregulated and that of microRNA 140 (miR-140) was markedly reduced in pulmonary fibrotic tissues from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)-induced HBE and A549 cells. Moreover, the expression of H19 was negatively correlated with the expression of miR-140 in IPF tissues. H19 knockdown attenuated TGF-β1-induced pulmonary fibrosis in vitro. Furthermore, animal experiments showed that H19 knockdown attenuated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. The study of molecular mechanisms showed that H19 functioned via reduction of miR-140 expression by binding to miR-140. The increase of miR-140 inhibited TGF-β1-induced pulmonary fibrosis, and H19 upregulation diminished the inhibitory effects of miR-140 on TGF-β1-induced pulmonary fibrosis, which was involved in the TGF-β/Smad3 pathway. Taken together, our findings showed that H19 knockdown attenuated pulmonary fibrosis via the regulatory network of lncRNA H19–miR-140–TGF-β/Smad3 signaling, and H19 and miR-140 might represent therapeutic targets and early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for patients with pulmonary fibrosis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
H.-R. Lee ◽  
R.-E. Go ◽  
K.-C. Choi

Activated oestrogen receptor (ER) signaling pathway by 17β-estadiol (E2) appeared to suppress transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling pathway by cross-talk with TGF-β components in ER-positive cancer cells. In this study, we further examined the inhibitory effects of alkylphenols, including 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-otylphenol (OP), bisphenol A (BPA), and benzophenon-1 (BP-1), in TGF-β signaling pathway. The transcriptional and translational levels of TGF-β-related genes were examined by reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR), Western blotting analysis in xenografted mouse models of ovarian cancer BG-1 cells. The NP, OP, and BPA induced the expression of snoN, a TGF-β pathway inhibitor. Treatment with NP, BPA, and BP-1 resulted in decreased phosphorylation of Smad3, a downstream target of TGF-β. With these 2 effects, NP and BPA stimulated the proliferation of BG-1 cells via inhibition of the TGF-β signaling pathway. In a xenograft mouse model, transplanted BG-1 ovarian cancer cells showed significantly decreased phosphorylation of Smad3 and increased expression of snoN in the ovarian tumour masses following treatment with E2, NP, or BPA. In parallel with an in vitro model, the expressions of TGF-β signaling pathway were similarly regulated by NP or BPA in a xenograft mouse model, revealing consistent results. Taken together, these results support that NP and BPA may cause the disruption of the TGF-β signaling pathway and increase the risk of oestrogen-dependent cancers such as ovarian cancer. This work was supported by a grant from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (No. PJ009599), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandan Chakraborty ◽  
Louise M Gleeson ◽  
Timothy McKinnon ◽  
Peeyush K Lala

The human placenta is an invasive structure in which highly proliferative, migratory, and invasive extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells migrate and invade the uterus and its vasculature. Using in vitro propagated normal first-trimester EVT cells and immortalized EVT cells, which share all of the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the normal EVT cells, it has been shown that migration/invasion of human EVT cells is stringently regulated by many growth factors, their binding proteins, extracellular matrix (ECM) components, and some adhesion molecules in an autocrine/paracrine manner at the fetal–maternal interface in human pregnancy. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), decorin (a proteoglycan in the ECM), and melanoma cell adhesion molecule (Mel-CAM) inhibit, and insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II), IGF-binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1), and endothelin 1 (ET-1) stimulate EVT cell migration/invasion. Inhibition of EVT cell migration by TGF-β has been suggested to be due to upregulation of integrins, which make the cells more adhesive to the ECM. Its antiinvasive action is due to an upregulation of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloprotease 1 (TIMP-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) and a downregulation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Molecular mechanisms of inhibition of migration/invasion of EVT cells by decorin and Mel-CAM remain to be identified. IGF-II action has been shown to be mediated by IGF type I receptors (IGF-RII) independently of IGF type I receptors (IGF-RI) and IGFBPs. This action of IGF-II appears to involve inhibitory G proteins and phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) (extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK-1 and ERK-2)). IGFBP-1 stimulation of EVT cell migration appears to occur by binding its Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) domain to α5β1 integrin, leading to phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and MAPK (ERK-1 and ERK-2). These studies may improve our understanding of diseases related to abnormal placentation, viz. hypoinvasiveness in preeclampsia and hyperinvasiveness in trophoblastic neoplasms.Key words: trophoblast, migration, integrin, IGF-RII, IGFBP-1.


2004 ◽  
Vol 183 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
D N Danforth

The anti-estrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen (TAM) and vitamin A-related compounds, the retinoids, in combination act synergistically to inhibit growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. To clarify the mechanism of this synergism, the effect of TAM and all trans-retinoic acid (AT) on proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells was studied in vitro. TAM and AT acted synergistically to cause a time-dependent and dose-dependent inhibition of MCF-7 cell growth. In a temporally related manner, TAM+AT acted synergistically to downregulate Bcl-2 mRNA and Bcl-2 protein expression, and to stimulate apoptosis. TAM and AT each blocked cell cycle progression throughout 7 days of treatment but without any synergistic or additive effect on this process, indicating a selective synergism for apoptosis. The negative growth factor-transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) is secreted by these cells and was studied as a potential mediator of the synergistic effects of TAM+AT on apoptosis. TAM+AT acted synergistically to induce a fivefold increase in TGFβ1 secretion over 72 h. TGFβ1 alone had no apoptotic effects on these cells; however, TGFβ1 in combination with AT acted synergistically to inhibit growth, to downregulate Bcl-2 mRNA and Bcl-2 protein expression, and to stimulate apoptosis of these cells in a manner comparable with that noted for TAM+AT. The synergism of both TAM+AT and TGFβ1+AT for apoptosis was suppressed by estradiol. Co-incubation of TAM+AT with anti-TGFβ antibody did not block down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein expression or stimulation of apoptosis. The synergistic effects of TAM+AT on apoptosis therefore occur independently of TGFβ, although TGFβ may interact with AT in a novel manner to provide another important anti-proliferative mechanism for breast cancer cells.


2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (23) ◽  
pp. 8184-8198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Law ◽  
Anna Chytil ◽  
Nancy Dumont ◽  
Elizabeth G. Hamilton ◽  
Mary E. Waltner-Law ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) induces cell cycle arrest of most nontransformed epithelial cell lines. In contrast, many human carcinomas are refractory to the growth-inhibitory effect of TGF-β. TGF-β overexpression inhibits tumorigenesis, and abolition of TGF-β signaling accelerates tumorigenesis, suggesting that TGF-β acts as a tumor suppressor in mouse models of cancer. A screen to identify agents that potentiate TGF-β-induced growth arrest demonstrated that the potential anticancer agent rapamycin cooperated with TGF-β to induce growth arrest in multiple cell lines. Rapamycin also augmented the ability of TGF-β to inhibit the proliferation of E2F1-, c-Myc-, and V12H-Ras-transformed cells, even though these cells were insensitive to TGF-β-mediated growth arrest in the absence of rapamycin. Rapamycin potentiation of TGF-β-induced growth arrest could not be explained by increases in TGF-β receptor levels or rapamycin-induced dissociation of FKBP12 from the TGF-β type I receptor. Significantly, TGF-β and rapamycin cooperated to induce growth inhibition of human carcinoma cells that are resistant to TGF-β-induced growth arrest, and arrest correlated with a suppression of Cdk2 kinase activity. Inhibition of Cdk2 activity was associated with increased binding of p21 and p27 to Cdk2 and decreased phosphorylation of Cdk2 on Thr160. Increased p21 and p27 binding to Cdk2 was accompanied by decreased p130, p107, and E2F4 binding to Cdk2. Together, these results indicate that rapamycin and TGF-β cooperate to inhibit the proliferation of nontransformed cells and cancer cells by acting in concert to inhibit Cdk2 activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 2216
Author(s):  
Youfen Ma ◽  
Bixue Xu ◽  
Jia Yu ◽  
Lirong Huang ◽  
Xiaoping Zeng ◽  
...  

The friend leukemia integration 1 (Fli-1) gene is involved in the expression control of key genes in multiple pathogenic/physiological processes, including cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis; this implies that Fli-1 is a strong candidate for drug development. In our previous study, a 3′,5′-diprenylated chalcone, (E)-1-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-3,5-diprenyl) phenyl-3-(3-pyridinyl)-propene-1-one (C10), was identified as a novel anti-prostate cancer (PCa) agent. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer effects of C10 on the growth, metastasis, and invasion of PC3 cells in vitro. Our results show that C10 exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on proliferation and metastasis of PC3 cells via several cellular and flow cytometric analyses. Further mechanism studies revealed that C10 likely serves as an Fli-1 agonist for regulating the expression of Fli-1 target genes including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (P110), murine double minute2 (MDM2), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Src homology-2 domain-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP-1), and globin transcription factor-1 (Gata-1) as well as the phosphorylation of extracellular-regulated protein kinases 1 (ERK1). Further, we confirmed that C10 can regulate the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor 1 (VEGF-1), transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2), intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), p53, and matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) genes associated with tumor apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Thus, C10 exhibits stronger anticancer activity with novel molecular targets and regulatory molecular mechanisms, indicating its great potency for development as a novel targeted anticancer drug.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 2402-2411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samy A. Abdelazim ◽  
Hebatallah A. Darwish ◽  
Sanaa A. Ali ◽  
Maha Z. Rizk ◽  
Mai O. Kadry

Background/Aim: The present study investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of individual and combined doses of idebenone, carnosine and vitamin E on ameliorating some of the biochemical indices of nano-sized titanium dioxide (n-TiO2) in mice liver. Methods: The in vitro cytotoxic effect of nano-sized anatase TiO2 (21 nm) on hepatic cell lines (HepG 2) was investigated. Additionally, n-TiO2 was orally administered (150 mg/kg/day) for 2 weeks, followed by a daily intragastric gavage of the aforementioned antioxidants for 1 month. Results: n-TiO2 induced significant cytotoxicity in hepatic cell lines and elevated the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hepatic total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and nitrite/nitrate (NOx) levels. Meanwhile, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity was significantly reduced. Moreover, RT-PCR and western blot analysis showed that n-TiO2 significantly altered the mRNA and protein expressions of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1) and Smad-2, as well as vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF). Histopathological examination of hepatic tissue reinforced these results.Conclusion: Idebenone, carnosine and vitamin E ameliorated the deviated parameters with the combination regimen demonstrating the most pronounced effect. Oxidative stress, liver fibrosis and angiogenesis may be implicated in n-TiO2-induced liver toxicity.


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