EGFR Mutation-Harboring Lung Cancer Cells Produce CLEC11A with Endothelial Trophic and Tumor-Promoting Activities.

Tzu-Yin Lin,Chi-Hwa Yang,Shiu-Feng Huang,Chun-Mei Cheng,Yi-Rong Chen,Ya-Wen Liu,Hsiao-Chin Chou,Li-Rung Huang,Shih-Feng Tsai,Jiz-Yuh Wang

doi:10.3390/cancers14051356

Abstract

Simple SummaryTumor angiogenesis is an important step in the progression of solid tumors. Understanding the mechanisms involved in tumor vasculature formation is critical for improving anti-angiogenic strategies. In this study, we reported that EGFR mutation-containing lung cancer cells produced CLEC11A with endothelial trophic and tumor-promoting activities. CLEC11A could be a novel factor involved in tumor angiogenesis.The formation of new blood vessels in solid tumors is regulated by various endothelial trophic factors. We identified that CLEC11A, an extracellular C-type lectin, was over-expressed in lung cancer cell lines harboring mutated EGFR. CLEC11A expression was also frequently elevated in lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) tissues with EGFR mutation. CLEC11A-expressing H1299 cells formed larger tumors in nude mice than did the control cells. The CLEC11A-expressing tumors contained more CD31-positive cells, suggesting that they had a higher angiogenic activity. CLEC11A per se did not induce blood vessel formation, but enhanced angiogenesis triggered by VEGF-A or basic FGF in vivo. Additionally, the expression of small hairpin RNA against CLEC11A (shCLEC11A) in HCC827 LAC cells suppressed their tumorigenic ability. Purified CLEC11A exhibited a chemotactic ability, which is dependent on its integrin-binding RGD and LDT motifs, toward endothelial cells. This chemotactic activity was not affected by the presence of a VEGFR inhibitor. Conditioned medium produced by HCC827-shCLEC11A cells had diminished chemotactic ability toward endothelial cells. CLEC11A treatments increased the levels of active integrin β1 that were not associated with activation of focal adhesion kinases in endothelial cells. Our results indicated that CLEC11A was a factor of angiogenic potential and was involved in lung cancer tumorigenesis.

Highlights

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing endothelial cells, is regulated by the balance of pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors present in a tissue [1]
In searching for genes differentially expressed in lung cancer cells with mutated EGFR, we performed microarray analyses comparing the mRNA expression profiles between H1299 NSCLC cells permanently transfected with wild-type or mutated
We found that the mRNA level of CLEC11A expression was higher in H1299 cells with mutated EGFRs (H1299-L858R and Del) in comparison to those in the control cells (H1299-Vec) or cells with wild-type EGFR (H1299-EGFR)

Summary

Introduction

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing endothelial cells, is regulated by the balance of pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors present in a tissue [1]. It is known that hypoxia in the tumor mass, which is a major cause of angiogenesis, leads to the overproduction of proangiogenic factors [1,3]. The best characterized family of angiogenic factors is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family, which consists of VEGF-A through D and placenta growth factor (PlGF, named phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis class F (PIGF)) [1,2]. VEGFs binds to a family of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) called VEGF receptors (VEGFR1-3). VEGF-A, mainly responsible for vessel formation in adult tissues, binds to VEGFR-1 with higher affinity; it has been reported that

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