Abstract
Purpose: Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is known to increase the invasiveness and migration of cancer cells in vitro and induce angiogenesis. This study examined if inhibition of HGF/SF receptor expression by cancer cells and HGF/SF expression by stromal fibroblasts affects the growth of mammary cancer. Experimental Design: Transgenes encoding ribozymes to specifically target human HGF/SF receptor (pLXSN-MET) or HGF/SF (pLXSN-HGF) were constructed using a pLXSN retroviral vector. Human mammary cancer cells MDA MB 231 was transduced with pLXSN-MET (MDA+/+). A human fibroblast cell line MRC5, which produces bioactive HGF/SF, was transduced with pLXSN-HGF (MRC5+/+). These cells were used in a nude mice breast tumor model. Results: HGF receptor in MDA+/+ cells and HGF in MRC5+/+ cells were successfully removed with respective ribozymes as shown by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. MDA +/+ was found to have reduced invasiveness when stimulated with HGF/SF. MRC5+/+ exhibited a significant reduction in HGF/SF production. When injected into athymic nude mice, MDA+/+ exhibited a slower rate of growth, compared with the wild type (MDA-/-), and the cells transduced with control viral vector (MDA+/-). The growth of MDA-/- tumor was significantly enhanced when coimplanted with wild-type MRC5 (MRC5-/-), and the stimulatory effect was reduced when MRC5+/+ cells were coimplanted instead of MRC5-/-. The reduction of tumor growth was accompanied by reduction of angiogenesis, as demonstrated by the staining of VE-cadherin in primary tumor tissues. Conclusions: Retroviral ribozyme transgenes targeting HGF/SF in fibroblasts or its receptor cMET in mammary cancer cells can reduce the growth of mammary cancer and associated angiogenesis by inhibiting paracrine stromal-tumor cell interactions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 4274-4281 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Clinical Cancer Research |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 11 |
State | Published - Nov 1 2003 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research