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Ischemia-Induced K-ras Mutations in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells: Role of Microenvironmental Regulation of MSH2 Expression

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; ² Department of Pathology, International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo, Japan; and ³ Henderson Research Centre, Experimental Thrombosis Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Requests for reprints: Brenda L. Coomber, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1. Phone: 519-824-4120, ext. 54922; Fax: 519-767-1450; E-mail: bcoomber{at}uoguelph.ca.

Mutation of the K-ras gene is one of the most common genetic alterations in solid tumors, including colorectal cancer. The relatively late emergence of K-ras mutations in colorectal cancer is particularly striking in the class of mismatch repair–deficient tumors associated with early-onset microsatellite instability. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that the microsatellite instability phenotype itself does not efficiently trigger K-ras mutations in colorectal cancer cells, but rather that tumor-associated microenvironmental conditions (e.g., hypoxia and hypoglycemia) contribute to this event by modulating genetic instability. We examined K-ras^G13D mutation using PCR-RFLP analysis in two different microsatellite instability colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and DLD-1) and their variants in which the mutant (but not the wild-type) K-ras allele has been genetically disrupted (Hkh-2 and Dks-8). We found K-ras^G13D mutation to occur at far greater incidence in cells derived from xenografted tumors or exposed to conditions of combined hypoxia and hypoglycemia in vitro. Interestingly, this mutagenesis was neither enhanced by induced oxidative damage nor prevented by the antioxidant vitamin E. Moreover, the accumulation of K-ras mutations was paralleled by down-regulation of the key mismatch repair protein MSH2 in xenografted tumors, particularly in hypoperfused areas and under hypoglycemic conditions (in vitro). In contrast, the microsatellite stable colorectal cancer cell line Caco-2 neither accumulated K-ras mutations nor showed down-regulation of MSH2 under these conditions. Thus, our study suggests that ischemia may not simply select for, but can actually trigger, increased mutation rate in crucial colorectal cancer oncoproteins. This finding establishes a novel linkage between genetic instability, tumor ischemia, and genetic tumor progression and carries important implications for applying anticancer therapies involving tumor hypoxia (e.g., antiangiogenesis) in microsatellite instability cancers.