This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nicholson, B. E. Articles by Theodorescu, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nicholson, B. E. Articles by Theodorescu, D.

Profiling the Evolution of Human Metastatic Bladder Cancer

Departments of ¹ Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, ² Pathology, and ³ Health Evaluation Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia; and ⁴ Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California

Pulmonary metastases frequently develop in patients with aggressive bladder cancer, yet investigation of this process at the molecular level suffers from the poor availability of human metastatic tumor tissue and the absence of suitable animal models. To address this, we developed progressively more metastatic human bladder cancer cell lines and an in vivo bladder-cancer lung-metastasis model, and we successfully used these to identify genes of which the expression levels change according to the degree of pulmonary metastatic potential. By initially intravenously injecting the poorly metastatic T24T human urothelial cancer cells into nude mice, and then serially reintroducing and reisolating the human tumor cells from the resultant mouse lung tumors, three derivative human lines with increasingly metastatic phenotypes, designated FL1, FL2, and FL3, were sequentially isolated. To identify the genes associated with the most lung-metastatic phenotype, the RNA complement from the parental and derivative cells was evaluated with oligonucleotide microarrays. In doing so, we found 121 genes to be progressively up-regulated during the transition from T24T to FL3, whereas 43 genes were progressively down-regulated. As expected, many of the genes identified in these groups could, according to the ascribed functions of their protein product, theoretically participate in tissue invasion and metastasis. In addition, the magnitude of gene expression changes observed during the metastatic transition correlated with the in vivo propensity for earlier lung colonization and decreased host survival. To additionally define which genes found in the experimental system were of relevance to human bladder cancer lung metastasis, we evaluated gene expression profiles of 23 primary human bladder tumors of various stages and grades, and then we compared these gene expression profiles to the altered profiles in our model cell lines. Here we found that the expression of epiregulin, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)14, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-2) were consistently and progressively up-regulated when viewed as a function of tumor stage in tissues of patients versus the metastatic potential seen in the mouse lung model. The strong correlation of these four markers between the experimental and clinical situations helps validate this system as a useful tool for the study of lung metastasis and defines targets of therapy that may reduce the incidence of this process in patients.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. C. Smith, G. Oxford, A. S. Baras, C. Owens, D. Havaleshko, D. L. Brautigan, M. K. Safo, and D. Theodorescu Expression of Ral GTPases, Their Effectors, and Activators in Human Bladder Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2007; 13(13): 3803 - 3813. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Knowles Molecular subtypes of bladder cancer: Jekyll and Hyde or chalk and cheese? Carcinogenesis, March 1, 2006; 27(3): 361 - 373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. C. Smith, G. Oxford, Z. Wu, M. D. Nitz, M. Conaway, H. F. Frierson, G. Hampton, and D. Theodorescu The Metastasis-Associated Gene CD24 Is Regulated by Ral GTPase and Is a Mediator of Cell Proliferation and Survival in Human Cancer Cancer Res., February 15, 2006; 66(4): 1917 - 1922. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Sanchez-Carbayo, N. D. Socci, J. Lozano, F. Saint, and C. Cordon-Cardo Defining Molecular Profiles of Poor Outcome in Patients With Invasive Bladder Cancer Using Oligonucleotide Microarrays J. Clin. Oncol., February 10, 2006; 24(5): 778 - 789. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]