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EphA2 Reexpression Prompts Invasion of Melanoma Cells Shifting from Mesenchymal to Amoeboid-like Motility Style

¹ Department of Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence and Center for Research, Transfer and High Education ‘Study at Molecular and Clinical Level of Chronic, Inflammatory, Degenerative and Neoplastic Disorders for the Development on Novel Therapies’; ² Department of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Requests for reprints: Paola Chiarugi, Department of Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, 50134 Firenze, Italy. Phone: 39-055-4598343; Fax: 39-055-4498905; E-mail: paola.chiarugi{at}unifi.it.

Key Words: melanoma cells • metastatic invasion • mesenchymal to amoeboid transition • EphA2 kinase • metalloproteinases

Eph tyrosine kinases instruct cell for a repulsive behavior, regulating cell shape, adhesion, and motility. Beside its role during embryogenesis, neurogenesis, and angiogenesis, EphA2 kinase is frequently up-regulated in tumor cells of different histotypes, including prostate, breast, colon, and lung carcinoma, as well as melanoma. Although a function in both tumor onset and metastasis has been proposed, the role played by EphA2 is still debated. Here, we showed that EphA2 reexpression in B16 murine melanoma cells, which use a defined mesenchymal invasion strategy, converts their migration style from mesenchymal to amoeboid-like, conferring a plasticity in tumor cell invasiveness. Indeed, in response to reexpression and activation of EphA2, melanoma cells activate a nonproteolytic invasive program that proceeds through the activation of cytoskeleton motility, the retraction of cell protrusions, a Rho-mediated rounding of the cell body, and squeezing among three-dimensional matrix, giving rise to successful lung and peritoneal lymph node metastases. Our results suggest that, among the redundant mechanisms operating in tumor cells to penetrate the anatomic barriers of host tissues, EphA2 plays a pivotal role in the adaptive switch in migration pattern and mechanism, defining and distinguishing tumor cell invasion strategies. Thus, targeting EphA2 might represent a future approach for the therapy of cancer dissemination. [Cancer Res 2009;69(5):2072–81]