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VEGF-A promotes the motility of human melanoma cells through the VEGFR1-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2022; 58:758-770. [PMID: 35997849 PMCID: PMC9550759 DOI: 10.1007/s11626-022-00717-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and its receptors (VEGFR1 and R2) play important roles in the progression of malignant melanoma through tumor angiogenesis. However, it is not clear whether the VEGF-A/VEGFR1 signaling pathway is involved in the proliferation and migration of melanoma cells. Thus, the effect of VEGF-A on cell migration was investigated in human melanoma cell lines. Of several splicing variants of VEGF-A, VEGF165 is the most abundant and responsible for VEGF-A biological potency. VEGF165 facilitated the migration of melanoma cells in both a chemotactic and chemokinetic manner, but cell proliferation was not affected by VEGF165. VEGF165 also induced the phosphorylation of Akt. In addition, VEGF165-induced cell migration was inhibited significantly by VEGFR1/2 or a VEGFR1-neutralizing antibody. Furthermore, the downregulation of VEGFR1 via the transfection of VEGFR1-targeting antisense oligonucleotides suppressed VEGF165-induced cell migration. Moreover, wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) in the PI3K/Akt pathway, suppressed VEGF165-induced Akt phosphorylation and VEGF165-induced cell migration. These findings suggest that the motility of melanoma cells is regulated by signals mediated through the PI3K/Akt kinase pathway with the activation of VEGFR1 tyrosine kinase by VEGF165. Thus, the downregulation of signaling via VEGF-A/VEGFR1 might be an effective therapeutic approach that could prevent the progression of malignant melanoma.
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Atzori MG, Tentori L, Ruffini F, Ceci C, Lisi L, Bonanno E, Scimeca M, Eskilsson E, Daubon T, Miletic H, Ricci Vitiani L, Pallini R, Navarra P, Bjerkvig R, D'Atri S, Lacal PM, Graziani G. The anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 monoclonal antibody D16F7 inhibits invasiveness of human glioblastoma and glioblastoma stem cells. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH : CR 2017; 36:106. [PMID: 28797294 PMCID: PMC5553938 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-017-0577-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly migratory, invasive, and angiogenic brain tumor. Like vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), placental growth factor (PlGF) promotes GBM angiogenesis. VEGF-A is a ligand for both VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) and VEGFR-2, while PlGF interacts exclusively with VEGFR-1. We recently generated the novel anti-VEGFR-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) D16F7 that diminishes VEGFR-1 homodimerization/activation without affecting VEGF-A and PlGF binding. METHODS In the present study, we evaluated the expression of VEGFR-1 in human GBM tissue samples (n = 42) by immunohistochemistry, in cell lines (n = 6) and GBM stem cells (GSCs) (n = 18) by qRT-PCR and/or western blot analysis. In VEGFR-1 positive GBM or GSCs we also analyzed the ability of D16F7 to inhibit GBM invasiveness in response to VEGF-A and PlGF. RESULTS Most of GBM specimens stained positively for VEGFR-1 and all but one GBM cell lines expressed VEGFR-1. On the other hand, in GSCs the expression of the receptor was heterogeneous. D16F7 reduced migration and invasion of VEGFR-1 positive GBM cell lines and patient-derived GSCs in response to VEGF-A and PlGF. Interestingly, this effect was also observed in VEGFR-1 positive GSCs transfected to over-express wild-type EGFR (EGFRwt+) or mutant EGFR (ligand binding domain-deficient EGFRvIII+). Furthermore, D16F7 suppressed intracellular signal transduction in VEGFR-1 over-expressing GBM cells by reducing receptor auto-phosphorylation at tyrosine 1213 and downstream Erk1/2 activation induced by receptor ligands. CONCLUSION The results from this study suggest that VEGFR-1 is a relevant target for GBM therapy and that D16F7-derived humanized mAbs warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Grazia Atzori
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Lucio Tentori
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Ruffini
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, "Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata"-IRCCS, Via dei Monti di Creta, 104, 00167, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia Ceci
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Lisi
- Istituto di Farmacologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Roma, Italia
| | - Elena Bonanno
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Manuel Scimeca
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Eskil Eskilsson
- Department of Genomic Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Thomas Daubon
- INSERM U1029, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France.,Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Hrvoje Miletic
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Lucia Ricci Vitiani
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine, "Istituto Superiore di Sanità" (ISS), Rome, Italy
| | - Roberto Pallini
- Department of Neurosurgery, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Navarra
- Istituto di Farmacologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Roma, Italia.,UOC di Farmacologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Roma, Italia
| | - Rolf Bjerkvig
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Stefania D'Atri
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, "Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata"-IRCCS, Via dei Monti di Creta, 104, 00167, Rome, Italy
| | - Pedro Miguel Lacal
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, "Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata"-IRCCS, Via dei Monti di Creta, 104, 00167, Rome, Italy.
| | - Grazia Graziani
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
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A novel kinase mutation in VEGFR-1 predisposes its αC-helix/activation loop towards allosteric activation: Atomic insights from protein simulation. Eur J Hum Genet 2016; 24:1287-93. [PMID: 27049304 DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2016.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Revised: 01/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR-1) has been implicated in diverse pathologies, including cancers. Although VEGFR-1 is considered as functionally impaired kinase, its decoy characteristics make it an important regulator of VEGFR-mediated signaling, particularly in tumor angiogenesis. VEGFR-1 conveys signaling via its tyrosine kinase (TK) domain whose activation is regulated by phosphorylation of specific tyrosine residues. Thus dysregulation of VEGFR-1 signaling, as reported in most of the cancers, might be a consequence of altered phosphorylation that could be attributed to genotypic variations in its TK domain. Considering the importance of TK domain of VEGFR-1, we carried out its mutational screening in 84 clinically validated and histopathologically confirmed colorectal cancer patients. By means of direct DNA sequencing and SNP analyses, eight novel variations, including one synonymous, two deletion, one missense and four intronic variations, were reported in the TK domain of VEGFR-1. rs730882263:C>G variation specifically reported in colon cancer, representing a single-atomic change (Sulfur to Oxygen) in the predicted (p.Cys1110Ser) protein, was observed as potentially deleterious variation as assessed by multiple single-nucleotide polymorphism prediction servers. Molecular dynamics simulations of VEGFR-1 Wt and (p.Cys1110Ser) variant models revealed major conformational changes in variant protein presumptuously generating an open conformation thereby exposing the activation domain and consequently increasing the probability of phosphorylation events: a condition frequently reported in cancers.
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The cellular response to vascular endothelial growth factors requires co-ordinated signal transduction, trafficking and proteolysis. Biosci Rep 2015; 35:BSR20150171. [PMID: 26285805 PMCID: PMC4613718 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20150171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2015] [Accepted: 08/18/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
VEGFs (vascular endothelial growth factors) are a family of conserved disulfide-linked soluble secretory glycoproteins found in higher eukaryotes. VEGFs mediate a wide range of responses in different tissues including metabolic homoeostasis, cell proliferation, migration and tubulogenesis. Such responses are initiated by VEGF binding to soluble and membrane-bound VEGFRs (VEGF receptor tyrosine kinases) and co-receptors. VEGF and receptor splice isoform diversity further enhances complexity of membrane protein assembly and function in signal transduction pathways that control multiple cellular responses. Different signal transduction pathways are simultaneously activated by VEGFR-VEGF complexes with membrane trafficking along the endosome-lysosome network further modulating signal output from multiple enzymatic events associated with such pathways. Balancing VEGFR-VEGF signal transduction with trafficking and proteolysis is essential in controlling the intensity and duration of different intracellular signalling events. Dysfunction in VEGF-regulated signal transduction is important in chronic disease states including cancer, atherosclerosis and blindness. This family of growth factors and receptors is an important model system for understanding human disease pathology and developing new therapeutics for treating such ailments.
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Smith GA, Fearnley GW, Harrison MA, Tomlinson DC, Wheatcroft SB, Ponnambalam S. Vascular endothelial growth factors: multitasking functionality in metabolism, health and disease. J Inherit Metab Dis 2015; 38:753-63. [PMID: 25868665 DOI: 10.1007/s10545-015-9838-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) bind to VEGF receptor tyrosine kinases (VEGFRs). The VEGF and VEGFR gene products regulate diverse regulatory pathways in mammalian development, health and disease. The interaction between a particular VEGF and its cognate VEGFR activates multiple signal transduction pathways which regulate different cellular responses including metabolism, gene expression, proliferation, migration, and survival. The family of VEGF isoforms regulate vascular physiology and promote tissue homeostasis. VEGF dysfunction is implicated in major chronic disease states including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer. More recent studies implicate a strong link between response to VEGF and regulation of vascular metabolism. Understanding how this family of multitasking cytokines regulates cell and animal function has implications for treating many different diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina A Smith
- Endothelial Cell Biology Unit, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
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Unlocking Doors without Keys: Activation of Src by Truncated C-terminal Intracellular Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Lacking Tyrosine Kinase Activity. Cells 2014; 3:92-111. [PMID: 24709904 PMCID: PMC3980740 DOI: 10.3390/cells3010092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2013] [Revised: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 02/07/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the best examples of the renaissance of Src as an open door to cancer has been the demonstration that just five min of Src activation is sufficient for transformation and also for induction and maintenance of cancer stem cells [1]. Many tyrosine kinase receptors, through the binding of their ligands, become the keys that unlock the structure of Src and activate its oncogenic transduction pathways. Furthermore, intracellular isoforms of these receptors, devoid of any tyrosine kinase activity, still retain the ability to unlock Src. This has been shown with a truncated isoform of KIT (tr-KIT) and a truncated isoform of VEGFR-1 (i21-VEGFR-1), which are intracellular and require no ligand binding, but are nonetheless able to activate Src and induce cell migration and invasion of cancer cells. Expression of the i21-VEGFR-1 is upregulated by the Notch signaling pathway and repressed by miR-200c and retinoic acid in breast cancer cells. Both Notch inhibitors and retinoic acid have been proposed as potential therapies for invasive breast cancer.
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VEGFR-1 mediates endothelial differentiation and formation of blood vessels in a murine model of infantile hemangioma. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2011; 179:2266-77. [PMID: 21945324 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2011.07.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2011] [Revised: 06/23/2011] [Accepted: 07/13/2011] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) is a member of the VEGFR family, and binds to VEGF-A, VEGF-B, and placental growth factor. VEGFR-1 contributes to tumor growth and metastasis, but its role in the pathological formation of blood vessels is still poorly understood. Herein, we used infantile hemangioma (IH), the most common tumor of infancy, as a means to study VEGFR-1 activation in pathological vasculogenesis. IH arises from stem cells (HemSCs) that can form the three most prominent cell types in the tumor: endothelial cells, pericytes, and adipocytes. HemSCs can recapitulate the IH life cycle when injected in immuncompromised mice, and are targeted by corticosteroids, the traditional treatment for IH. We report here that VEGF-A or VEGF-B induces VEGFR-1-mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation in HemSCs and promotes differentiation of HemSCs to endothelial cells. Studies of VEGFR-2 phosphorylation status and down-regulation of neuropilin-1 in the HemSCs demonstrate that VEGFR-2 and NRP1 are not needed for VEGF-A- or VEGF-B-induced ERK1/2 activation. U0216-mediated blockade of ERK1/2 phosphorylation or shRNA-mediated suppression of VEGFR-1 prevents HemSC-to-EC differentiation. Furthermore, the down-regulation of VEGFR-1 in the HemSCs results in decreased formation of blood vessels in vivo and reduced ERK1/2 activation. Thus, our study reveals a critical role for VEGFR-1 in the HemSC-to-EC differentiation that underpins pathological vasculogenesis in IH.
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