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Tumor Suppressor Activity and Epigenetic Inactivation of Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor Type 2/SPINT2 in Papillary and Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

¹ Cancer Research UK Renal Molecular Oncology Group; ² Section of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; ³ Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre, St. James's University Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom; ⁴ Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care, University Clinic Charité, Berlin, Germany; ⁵ Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan; and ⁶ Laboratory of Cancer Genetics, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Requests for reprints: Eamonn R. Maher, Section of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT Birmingham, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-121-627-2741; Fax: 44-121-414-2538; E-mail: e.r.maher{at}bham.ac.uk.

Following treatment with a demethylating agent, 5 of 11 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines showed increased expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) activator inhibitor type 2 (HAI-2/SPINT2/Bikunin), a Kunitz-type protease inhibitor that regulates HGF activity. As activating mutations in the MET proto-oncogene (the HGF receptor) cause familial RCC, we investigated whether HAI-2/SPINT2 might act as a RCC tumor suppressor gene. We found that transcriptional silencing of HAI-2 in RCC cell lines was associated with promoter region methylation and HAI-2/SPINT2 protein expression was down-regulated in 30% of sporadic RCC. Furthermore, methylation-specific PCR analysis revealed promoter region methylation in 30% (19 of 64) of clear cell RCC and 40% (15 of 38) of papillary RCC, whereas mutation analysis (in 39 RCC cell lines and primary tumors) revealed a missense substitution (P111S) in one RCC cell line. Restoration of HAI-2/SPINT2 expression in a RCC cell line reduced in vitro colony formation, but the P111S mutant had no significant effect. Increased cell motility associated with HAI-2/SPINT2 inactivation was abrogated by treatment with extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phospholipase C- inhibitors, but not by an inhibitor of atypical protein kinase C. These findings are consistent with frequent epigenetic inactivation of HAI-2/SPINT2, causing loss of RCC tumor suppressor activity and implicate abnormalities of the MET pathway in clear cell and papillary sporadic RCC. This information provides opportunities to develop novel targeted approaches to the treatment of RCC.

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