
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Molecular Oncology, Markers, Clinical Correlates |
Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1500 [M. B. J., C. M. M., J. O. B., M. R., M. R. E-B., D. B. K., L. A. L., E. C. K.]; Laboratory of Integrative and Medical Biophysics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland [V. A. K.,]; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland [G. S.]; Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland [G. S.]; and Center for Biological Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Maryland [E. F. P.]
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Experimental Design: RNA extracted from microdissected serous low malignant potential (LMP) and invasive ovarian tumors was used to construct cDNA libraries. A total of 7300 transcripts were randomly chosen for sequencing, and those transcripts were statistically evaluated. Reverse transcription-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to validate the findings in tumor tissue samples. Ovarian cancer cell lines were used to test gene effects on monolayer growth, proliferative capacity, and density-independent growth.
Results: Analysis of the pooled library transcripts revealed 26 genes differentially expressed between LMP and invasive ovarian cancers. The granulin-epithelin precursor [GEP/PC-cell derived growth factor (PCDGF)] was expressed only in the invasive ovarian cancer libraries (P < 0.028) and was absent in the LMP libraries (0 of 2872 clones). All of the invasive tumor epithelia, 20% of the LMP tumor epithelia, and all of the stroma from both subsets expressed GEP by reverse transcription-PCR. Immunohistochemical staining for GEP was diffuse and cytosolic in invasive ovarian cancer tumor cells compared with occasional, punctate, and apical staining in LMP tumor epithelia. Antisense transfection of GEP into ovarian cancer cell lines resulted in down-regulation of GEP production, reduction in cell growth (P < 0.002), decrease in the S-phase fraction (P < 0.04), and loss of density-independent growth potential (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: cDNA library preparation from microdissected tumor epithelium provided a selective advantage for the identification of growth factors for epithelial ovarian cancer. Differential granulin expression in tumor samples and the antiproliferative effects of its antisense down-regulation suggest that GEP may be a new autocrine growth factor and molecular target for epithelial ovarian cancer.
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
A direct comparison of invasive and LMP tumors was chosen because of the inherent biological behavioral differences between these two classes of ovarian tumors. Although both of these tumors may shed surface implants to the omentum and other peritoneal structures (8 , 9) , LMP tumors are distinguished from their invasive counterparts because they lack the capacity to invade into the underlying stroma and, thus, carry a much better prognosis (10, 11, 12) . The infrequency of LMP tumors and the lack of cell lines for in vitro testing have limited our ability to understand the molecular and biological differences between LMP and invasive epithelial ovarian tumors. The advent of high-throughput, micromolecular techniques has provided us with unique tools for mining large amounts of data directly from patient samples.
We used LCM (13) to isolate tumor epithelium from patient samples and constructed a cDNA library for each specimen (14) . Statistical comparison of generated sequences provided a global unbiased search into genes differentially regulated in LMP and invasive ovarian tumors. The GEP/PCDGF was uniquely present in the invasive ovarian cancer libraries created from microdissected tumor. We now report that the GEP is overexpressed in invasive epithelial ovarian cancer and is involved in the stimulation of ovarian cancer cell proliferation.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
CGAP Database Query and Statistical Analysis.
CGAP Library UniGene clusters and sequences are available to the scientific community through the CGAP website.3
We downloaded available sequences and UniGene clusters from the libraries from the CGAP website, yielding approximately 1000 clones sequenced per library. Each UniGene cluster was assigned a hit value, defined as the number of sequenced clones that grouped into that UniGene cluster. The hit frequency is the hit value divided by the total number of UniGene clusters per library and reflects the relative abundance of a UniGene in the library. UniGene clusters from the three LMP libraries and the four invasive libraries were pooled into their respective groups and hit frequencies within the pooled libraries were compared using
2 and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests. All of the tests were two-sided, and a P of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
RT-PCR.
An additional 20 invasive ovarian cancers (17 serous, 2 endometrioid, and 1 clear cell histology) and 10 LMP tumors (all serous histology) were used to investigate GEP expression (Cooperative Human Tissue Network). LCM of
5,000 epithelial ovarian tumor cells or stromal cells was performed per case as described previously (14)
. Two µl of the 20-µl first-strand reaction was amplified with GAPDH (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA) and GEP primers (sense 5'-GGAAGTATGGCTGCTGCA-3'; antisense 5'-GGATCAGGTCACACACA-3'; Ref. 15
). A final 20-µl of PCR reaction mixture contained 200 µmol of each dNTP, 1x reaction mix, 20 µmol of each primer, and 2 units of ampliTaq Gold polymerase (Perkin-Elmer, Foster City, CA). Eleven cycles of touchdown PCR (16
, 17)
were performed consisting of 94°C for 20 s, a one-degree decline in annealing temperature per cycle from 65°C to 55°C for 20 s, and 20 s at 72°C. Twenty-four cycles of 94°C, 55°C, and 72°C for 20 s each completed the reaction. A single reaction void of template was performed with each experiment as a negative-control. PCR products were electrophoresed on a 2% agarose gel, stained with ethidium bromide, and visualized by UV illumination.
Immunohistochemistry.
Frozen sections (8-µm) were thawed and fixed with acetone. The VECTASTAIN Elite Universal ABC Kit (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) was used per the manufacturers recommendations. Slides were incubated with a 1:500 dilution of anti-PCDGF (anti-GEP) polyclonal primary antibody (18)
, followed by antirabbit polyclonal secondary antibody. Slides were incubated with diaminobenzidine (Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Indianapolis, IN) for 10 min and counterstained with Gills hematoxylin. Four different examiners reviewed staining intensity and pattern (M.B.J., J.O.B., M.R., E.C.K.).
Preparation of Antibody, Lysate, and Immunoanalysis.
Polyclonal rabbit antisera were raised against keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH)-conjugated GEP peptide (APRWDAPLRDPAL). Antipeptide antibodies were purified over peptide-conjugated affigel-10 columns and titered for activity by immunoblot analysis. This antibody recognizes the Mr 68,000 unglycosylated form as well as various higher-molecular-weight glycosylated forms including the predominant Mr 88,000 glycoprotein. Specificity of anti-GEP antibody for each of these bands was demonstrated by competition assays using cognate peptide. Total cell lysates were prepared from subconfluent cells using radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) buffer [50 mM Tris-HCl (pH7.6), 150 mM NaCl, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, 2 mM Na3VO4, 4 mM EDTA, 10 mM NaF, 10 mM sodium PPi, 1% NP40, and 0.1% sodium deoxycholate]. Protein was determined using the bicin protein determination assay (Pierce Endogen, Rockford, IL). Fifty µg of lysate were subjected to reducing gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with anti-GEP antibody (18)
. Bands were detected with enhanced chemiluminescence following standard protocols (ECL, Pierce, Rockford, IL).
Cell Culture and Transfection.
SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells were obtained from American Tissue Culture Collection (Rockville, MD). The HEY-A8 cells were a gift of Dr. Gordon Mills (M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX). All of the cell lines were maintained in RPMI supplemented with 10% FCS, and penicillin and streptomycin, unless otherwise indicated. A 404-bp GEP fragment (-30 to +374 bp), engineered with 5' XbaI and 3' SalI sites, was cloned from SKOV3 mRNA using standard PCR cloning protocols. This fragment was sequenced and subcloned in the antisense orientation into the PCIneo mammalian expression vector (Promega, Madison, WI). Either empty vector (0.5 or 1 µg) or antisense GEP plasmid DNA (0.5 or 1 µg) was transfected into HEY-A8 or OVCAR3 cells using FuGene6 transfection reagent per manufacturers recommendations (Roche). Transfectants were selected and maintained in 600 µg/ml and 1000 µg/ml of G418, respectively (Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD) and studied in proliferation assays.
Proliferation and Cloning Assays.
Five hundred thousand cells, stably transfected with the empty vector control or antisense GP construct, were cultured in serum-containing medium in 24-well plates. Cell monolayers were fixed and stained at 72 h with 0.5% crystal violet in 20% methanol. Specifically bound dye was eluted with a 1:1 solution of 0.1 M sodium citrate (pH 4.2):100% ethanol, and absorbance at 540 nm was determined. Proliferation was also assessed using BrdUrd incorporation on a background of serum-limited or serum-free conditions. Twenty thousand empty vector control or antisense GEP stably transfected cells were plated in 96 wells in triplicate. Cells were serum-starved for 24 h and were replaced with either serum-free medium or 2% FCS-containing medium. Cells were labeled with BrdUrd for 2 h at 72 h, then fixed and analyzed according to the BrdUrd ELISA kit (Oncogene Research Products, Cambridge, MA). Data are reported as the mean of the absorbance measured at 450 and 595 nm per manufacturers instructions. Cells used for the soft agar study were subjected to transfection, harvested 48 h after transfection, and placed into 0.3% Difco agar on a bed of 0.5% agar in serum-containing medium in replicate wells (19)
. G418 (400 µg/ml) was incorporated into the agar for selection. Colonies over 50 cells (HeyA8) or 25 cells (OVCAR3) were counted at 10 days and 3 weeks, respectively. Results were compared using the Student t test, and a P of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. All three of the experiments were performed in at least triplicate.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2; Table 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
GEP is the largest member of a cysteine-rich family of polypeptides that include Mr 6,000 proteins called granulins or epithelins (15 , 22, 23, 24, 25) . Although initially cloned over a decade ago, characterization of this growth factor is in its early stages. Two of the smaller granulin-epithelins, granulins A and B, have been shown to have opposing effects on kidney cell growth (26) , and granulin D was demonstrated to regulate human glioblastoma multiforme cell line growth in vitro (27) . The granulin precursor sequence (progranulin) was originally deduced by cDNA cloning of the Mr 6,000 polypeptides and was thought to be an inactive precursor molecule that required further processing to become functional (20) . A Mr 88,000, glycosylated form of the granulin precursor, PCDGF, was purified from the tumorigenic murine teratoma PC cell line and was shown to promote growth of this cell line in an autocrine fashion (25) . This glycoprotein was also shown to regulate the growth of breast cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo (18 , 28 , 29) . Increased and inducible expression of PCDGF/GEP was demonstrated in ER-positive human breast carcinoma cells when compared with immortalized nontumorigenic human mammary epithelial cells (30) . PCDGF was found to be constitutively expressed in ER-negative breast cancer cells and was shown to mediate estrogen mitogenic activity and stimulation of cyclin D1 expression in ER-positive MCF-7 cells (29) . Antisense inhibition of PCDGF expression in teratocarcinoma and ER-negative breast cancer cell lines resulted in decreased cell growth in vitro and reduced the incidence and size of tumor xenografts in nude mice (18 , 28 , 29) . The presence of GEP has been shown also in renal cell carcinoma, gastric cancers, and glioblastomas (27 , 31, 32, 33) . These data suggest a role for GEP/PCDGF as an autocrine growth factor in multiple tumors. In addition, GEP/PCDGF is expressed in a variety of normal rodent tissues (34) and has been shown to be present in both early and late embryonic development in a pattern suggesting a functional role for this growth factor in normal cell physiology (35 , 36) . Although GEP has been shown to be expressed in normal ovarian epithelial cells in one report, its biological importance in the ovarian epithelium has not been elucidated. The relative expression patterns, quantities, and activity of GEP in normal ovarian surface epithelium and epithelial ovarian cancer need further investigation.
We identified GEP as differentially expressed between LMP and invasive ovarian cancer tumor epithelium and demonstrated that this altered expression was carried to the protein and function levels. Although GEP is both expressed and translated in the stroma of both tumors, our data suggest that the LMP tumor epithelium can either not recognize and/or not respond to stromally produced GEP or that stromal GEP may not activate the same pro-growth pathways in the LMP tumors. The presence of GEP protein in some LMP tumors, despite the lack of transcript detected in the cDNA libraries and by RT-PCR, may be explained by rare transcript abundance (less than
1 of 3000 genes), shorter transcript half-life in LMP cells with longer protein half-life, or paracrine GEP expression by stroma with binding and internalization in the LMP tumor epithelium. Stromal expression of GEP, particularly staining of microvessels within the stroma, leads to a secondary hypothesis in which GEP plays a role in creating a permissive host-tumor microenvironment (37)
. Lastly, it is possible that LMP tumors may also lack functional receptors for GEP, as yet uncloned and uncharacterized.
A functional role for GEP was shown using antisense transfection into proliferating and invasive epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines. Reduction in produced protein in the antisense cells resulted in a growth reduction that was augmented in serum-limited conditions. Even in the presence of other growth factors, such as in full or partial serum-containing conditions, the loss of GEP production decreased ovarian cancer cell growth, suggesting that it may be an autocrine growth factor for ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, down-regulation of GEP production and secretion caused a reduction in cloning capacity in soft agar in an experimental design that does not rely on long-term clonal selection as is required for development of stable transfectants. These data suggest that GEP expression provides necessary growth and survival signals for ovarian cancer cells. Supportive of this hypothesis is the reduction in activated Akt found in antisense transfectants (preliminary results). A similar end point was observed in another model system in which transfection of full-length GEP into R- mouse embryo fibroblasts, that lacked the insulin-like growth factor receptor I, allowed the cells to proliferate in the absence of other growth factors (38 , 39) . In addition, both GEP transfection of R- cells and PCDGF stimulation of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells activated the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway (29 , 38) .
The identification of GEP through the statistical analysis of cDNA libraries demonstrates the power of this approach to uncover differentially expressed genes from patient-derived tumor samples. Our observations were made possible by microdissection of epithelial cells selectively from the surrounding stroma, underscoring the importance of the template used for molecular analysis. The finding that GEP is present in both stroma and epithelium makes its role in tumor progression more intriguing and the need for identification, cloning, and characterization of its receptor paramount. Our data indicate that GEP may be an important growth factor for the development of the clinically aggressive subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer. The multifunctional role of GEP in ovarian cancer also makes this protein an attractive molecular target for further investigation.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
1 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Molecular Signaling Section, Laboratory of Pathology, 10 Center Drive MSC 1500, Bethesda, MD 20892-1500. Phone (301) 402-2726; Fax: (301) 480-5142; E-mail: ek1b{at}nih.gov ![]()
2 The abbreviations used are: LMP, low malignant potential; LCM, laser capture microdissection; GEP, granulin-epithelin precursor; PCDGF, PC-cell-derived growth factor; CGAP, cancer genome anatomy project; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR; BrdUrd, bromodeoxyuridine; ER, estrogen receptor. ![]()
3 Internet address: http://cgap.nci.nih.gov. ![]()
Received 6/19/02; revised 8/26/02; accepted 8/30/02.
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
D. Tolkatchev, S. Malik, A. Vinogradova, P. Wang, Z. Chen, P. Xu, H. P.J. Bennett, A. Bateman, and F. Ni Structure dissection of human progranulin identifies well-folded granulin/epithelin modules with unique functional activities Protein Sci., April 1, 2008; 17(4): 711 - 724. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. A. Simpkins, N. M. Devoogdt, N. Rasool, N. E. Tchabo, E. U. Alejandro, M. M.R.N. Kamrava, and E. C. Kohn The alarm anti-protease, secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, is a proliferation and survival factor for ovarian cancer cells Carcinogenesis, March 1, 2008; 29(3): 466 - 472. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. H. P. Ong, Z. He, L. Kriazhev, X. Shan, R. G. E. Palfree, and A. Bateman Regulation of progranulin expression in myeloid cells Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, December 1, 2006; 291(6): R1602 - R1612. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. B. Jones, A. P. Houwink, B. K. Freeman, T. M. Greenwood, J. M. Lafky, W. L. Lingle, A. Berchuck, G. L. Maxwell, K. C. Podratz, and N. J. Maihle The Granulin-Epithelin Precursor Is a Steroid-Regulated Growth Factor in Endometrical Cancer Reproductive Sciences, May 1, 2006; 13(4): 304 - 311. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. C. Hanington, D. R. Barreda, and M. Belosevic A Novel Hematopoietic Granulin Induces Proliferation of Goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) Macrophages J. Biol. Chem., April 14, 2006; 281(15): 9963 - 9970. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Matsumura, M. Mandai, M. Miyanishi, K. Fukuhara, T. Baba, T. Higuchi, M. Kariya, K. Takakura, and S. Fujii Oncogenic Property of Acrogranin in Human Uterine Leiomyosarcoma: Direct Evidence of Genetic Contribution in In vivo Tumorigenesis Clin. Cancer Res., March 1, 2006; 12(5): 1402 - 1411. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E. M. Posadas, F. Simpkins, L. A. Liotta, C. MacDonald, and E. C. Kohn Proteomic analysis for the early detection and rational treatment of cancer--realistic hope? Ann. Onc., January 1, 2005; 16(1): 16 - 22. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. T. Cheung, S. Y. Wong, K. L. Leung, X. Chen, S. So, I. O. Ng, and S. T. Fan Granulin-Epithelin Precursor Overexpression Promotes Growth and Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Clin. Cancer Res., November 15, 2004; 10(22): 7629 - 7636. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Chevillard, N. Ugolin, P. Vielh, K. Ory, C. Levalois, D. Elliott, G. L. Clayman, and A. K. El-Naggar Gene Expression Profiling of Differentiated Thyroid Neoplasms: Diagnostic and Clinical Implications Clin. Cancer Res., October 1, 2004; 10(19): 6586 - 6597. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. Tangkeangsirisin and G. Serrero PC cell-derived growth factor (PCDGF/GP88, progranulin) stimulates migration, invasiveness and VEGF expression in breast cancer cells Carcinogenesis, September 1, 2004; 25(9): 1587 - 1592. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. Tangkeangsirisin, J. Hayashi, and G. Serrero PC Cell-Derived Growth Factor Mediates Tamoxifen Resistance and Promotes Tumor Growth of Human Breast Cancer Cells Cancer Res., March 1, 2004; 64(5): 1737 - 1743. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C.-X. Pan, M. S. Kinch, P. A. Kiener, S. Langermann, G. Serrero, L. Sun, J. Corvera, C. J. Sweeney, L. Li, S. Zhang, et al. PC Cell-Derived Growth Factor Expression in Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Prostatic Adenocarcinoma Clin. Cancer Res., February 15, 2004; 10(4): 1333 - 1337. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Cancer Research | Clinical Cancer Research |
| Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention | Molecular Cancer Therapeutics |
| Molecular Cancer Research | Cancer Prevention Research |
| Cancer Prevention Journals Portal | Cancer Reviews Online |
| Annual Meeting Education Book | Meeting Abstracts Online |