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Tumor Biology |
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Houston, Texas 77030
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Maspin is a unique member of the serpin (serine protease inhibitor) family (8) of which the down-regulation is associated with the development of breast cancers (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) . Initial experiments demonstrated that recombinant maspin, made in bacteria, yeast, or insect, inhibits invasion and motility of mammary carcinoma cells in culture (8 , 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) . Maspin was also shown to inhibit endothelial cell motility and angiogenesis in a xenograft tumor model (20) , suggesting that the antiangiogenesis property is involved in tumor suppressor activity of maspin. In vitro, maspin gene is expressed in normal cells but it is transcriptionally down-regulated in tumor cells (11 , 21, 22, 23) . It was also found that p53 could induce maspin expression by transcriptional activation, placing maspin as one of the few p53-targeted genes involved in tumor migration and invasion (22) .
We established maspin overexpression previously in transgenic mice and crossed them with a strain of oncogenic WAP-SV40 T antigen mice to explore maspin function in vivo. We showed that overexpression of maspin in bitransgenic mice could partially block mammary tumor progression (24) . The partial blockage was attributable to the fact that maspin was under a WAP promoter of which the expression was dependent on pregnancy, whereas the loss of two very potent tumor suppressors, retinoblastoma and p53, overrode the inhibition of maspin. To additionally demonstrate maspin anti-invasion and antimetastasis functions in vivo, we tested maspin gene function in the TM40D tumor model, in which TM40D cells or transfectants of maspin were implanted back into a mammary gland, and their growths and metastasis were monitored. Here we demonstrate that the TM40D mammary tumor cells in syngeneic implantation model are highly invasive. Higher tumor growth rate and extensive invasion and metastasis were observed in TM40D cells without the maspin transgene. These processes were significantly inhibited by maspin in maspin transfectants. Tumors from maspin transfectants tended to have tumor encapsulation and less necrosis, which were associated with better prognosis and lower invasiveness. These data demonstrate that maspin is capable of blocking primary tumor growth and metastasis in a syngeneic animal model.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Establishing Maspin Transfectants in TM40D Mammary Tumor Cells.
Three groups of maspin transfectants and their vector controls were established. In group 1, human maspin cDNA (1.3 kb full length) was inserted into pEF expression vector by restriction enzyme digestion of EcoRI and XbaI. The maspin gene was placed under elongation factor promoter. The pEF-maspin construct and pEF control vector were transfected into TM40D cells by the method of electroporation (25)
. Stable clones of pEF-maspin and pEF-control were selected with 300 µg/ml G418. Maspin clones were examined by RT-PCR3
for the presence of human maspin mRNA and by immunostaining using antimaspin polyclonal antibody Abs4A (9)
. For group 2, retroviral stable transfectants were constructed as follows: the human maspin cDNA was cloned into pS2-GFP, a retroviral vector that was derived from pS2 family of retroviral vectors (26)
, wherein maspin cDNA and GFP were expressed independently from 5' long terminal repeat and pECM promoters, respectively. The plasmid constructs pS2-maspin GFP and pS2-GFP were transfected into 293T cells, along with pECO plasmid using fugene reagent, to produce infective viral particles. The viral supernatants were then allowed to infect TM40D cells in the presence of Polybrene. The transduced cells were then selected in presence of 100 µg/ml of zeocin and sorted by flow cytometry for green fluorescence emitted by GFP. These retroviral stable transfectants were then analyzed for the presence of human maspin cDNA by RT-PCR and by immunostaining with Abs4A antibody. For group 3, mouse maspin cDNA was cloned in the pEF vector. The stable clones were established as described for group 1. To rule out the possibility of clonal variations, we randomly selected maspin-positive and control clones from three groups and used them for orthotopic implantation.
For RT-PCR analysis of human maspin RNA, total RNAs were isolated from control and maspin transfectants as described previously (24) . A 200-bp PCR product was observed in maspin transfectants only (data not shown; 5' primer: AATTTAAGGTGGAAAAGATG, 3' primer: TCTATGGAATCCCCATCTTC). For immunostaining, cells were grown on chamber slides and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde solution for 1 h. The slides were blocked with 10% normal horse serum for 1 h before they were treated with the primary antibody Abs4A at a dilution of 1:200. The secondary antibody (Texas-red conjugated goat antirabbit antibody; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) was used at a dilution of 1:1000 at room temperature for 1 h. Slides were viewed under a Leica fluorescence microscope.
Implantation of Transfectants to BALB/c Mice.
BALB/c mice were initially purchased from Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc. and bred in our animal facility to generate offspring females 8 weeks of age. In groups 1 and 2, the sister pairs were evenly divided for the implantation of maspin clones or control clones. Tumor initiation was monitored every two days by palpation. Tumor volume was calculated using the formula: length x width2/2 (2)
. Tumor growth rate was monitored every 2 days by caliper measurement and tumor volume calculated as volume (mm3)/day.
In group 1, a random-selected pEF-maspin clone and a pEF control clone were used in the implantation. All of the tumor cells were grown to 7085% of confluence before being harvested for cell counting. Each #4 mammary gland was injected with 5 x 105 maspin transfectant cells or an equal number of control cells in a volume of 10 µl. Both #4 mammary glands were injected with the same tumor cells. Nine mice were used for maspin transfectants and nine for controls (each group contained 18 injection sites). All of the mice were sacrificed when the primary tumors grew to
1 cm in diameter.
For group 2, random collected retrovirus transfectants from maspin and control groups were cultured in TM40D growth medium to the confluence of 7085% and harvested for cell counting. A total of 2 x 105 cells in a volume of 10 µl from each transfectant group was injected into #4 mammary gland. Thirteen mice were used for two random selected maspin transfectants (26 sites) and 12 mice for two random selected control transfectants (24 sites). All of the mice were allowed to grow
35 days after the appearance of primary tumor.
In group 3, two random selected mouse maspin transfectants (pEF-mMaspin) and one control pEF clone were used in the implantation. Each #4 mammary gland was injected with 5 x 105 cells in a volume of 10 µl. Three mice were used for control clone (6 sites) and six mice were for maspin transfectants (12 sites).
Tumor Histology and Immunohistochemistry.
Mammary tumors were fixed in 10% neutral formalin buffer, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned at 5 µm. Sections were stained by H&E. Maspin expression was evaluated by immunostaining. Tissue sections were treated with proteinase K (10 µg/ml) for 10 min at 37°C and quenched with 0.03% of H2O2 in PBS for 30 min at room temperature. The slides were blocked with 10% normal horse serum for 1 h before they were treated with the primary antibody Abs4A at a dilution of 1:200. The secondary antibody (goat-antirabbit IgG; Santa Cruz Biotechnology) was used at a dilution of 1:400 at room temperature for 1 h. Slides were then rinsed and incubated with an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC kit; Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA), followed by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine color development (DAB kit; Zymed Laboratories, Inc., South San Francisco, CA).
Statistical Analyses.
Tumor-free curve was generated with Kaplan-Meier analysis using the Statview software program. Differences between groups were compared using the Student t test (two-sided analysis). A P < 0.05 was considered as significant.
| RESULTS |
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| DISCUSSION |
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Several studies link maspin function with tumor progression. Maspin was shown to suppress invasive phenotypes of human breast cancer cells by modulating their integrin expression (12)
. In oral squamous cell carcinoma, high maspin expression was associated with the absence of lymph node metastasis and with better rates of overall survival (27)
. It was reported that breast cancer patients with high levels of maspin in their bone marrow tended to remain disease-free for longer period, whereas their low maspin controls were more likely to have recurrence (28)
. In this regard, maspin may be used as marker for the identification of relapse risk. Inhibition of human breast cancer by differentiation reagent peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
and
linolenic acid was associated with up-regulation of the maspin gene (29
, 30)
.
Two animal studies have implicated the direct involvement of maspin in the suppression of primary tumor and metastasis (8
, 24) . Partial inhibition of tumor growth was seen in nude mice, but the conclusion was compromised by the small group sizes and the use of nude mouse (8)
. Transgenic expression of maspin displayed partial inhibition because of the fact that maspin transgene was under a relatively weak promoter (24)
, and SV40 T antigen caused loss of two other potent tumor suppressors, retinoblastoma and p53 in the bitransgenic mice (31)
. To demonstrate without any doubt that maspin does inhibit tumor growth as well as tumor invasion and metastasis in an intact animal, we examined a new syngeneic mammary tumor model. In the first group, we examined the growth rate when tumors were relatively small and in exponential growth phase. Whereas the control tumors grew very rapidly, the maspin transfectants displayed a slow, flat growth curve. We also examined tumor growth patterns for control and maspin transfectants. Two parameters widely used by tumor biologists are tumor encapsulation and necrosis. Aggressive tumor cells have high invasiveness and are more likely to break the capsule (capsular rupture) and invade into the mammary fat pad (32)
. The aggressive tumors are also associated with the presence of excessive necrosis (33)
. As shown in Table 2
, control tumors indeed had less encapsulation and more necrosis than maspin transfectants, indicating that maspin level is associated with better prognosis. This finding is in line with a previous report that higher a maspin level is correlated with better prognosis and low invasion (27
, 28)
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To additionally demonstrate the tumor suppressive activity of maspin and its role in invasion and metastasis, we repeated the experiment in group 2 with retrovirus-transfected maspin clones and control virus transfectants. The retrovirus maspin transfectants were used because of the possibility that some maspin plasmid transfectants might lose the plasmid without antibiotic selection in vivo. The maspin transfectants were more effective than plasmid maspin clones in inhibiting tumor development. Despite the longer time of tumor observation (40 more days than control), maspin transfectants had no visible tumor invasion and lung metastasis, whereas such invasion was widely seen in control mice.
Human maspin has 89% identity to mouse maspin (16) . Because of the high homology and the unusual tolerance of the mammary gland (34 , 35) , we did not think an immune rejection to human maspin was the cause of tumor suppression. To definitively rule out that possibility, we carried out a third experiment using mouse maspin transfectants for implantation. Once again, mouse maspin significantly inhibited tumor growth rate, confirming that maspin itself was primarily responsible for blocking tumor progression.
In summary, we have used a new mammary tumor model to examine the role of maspin in tumor progression. Maspin by itself, when introduced in the tumor cells, can block primary tumor growth, tumor invasion, and metastasis. Thus, maspin may serve as a potential important antitumor and antimetastasis reagent in cancer therapy.
| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Supported by Grants DAMD17-98-1-8029 and NIH CA79736 (to M. Z.). ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should addressed, at Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Alkek Building, N630.01, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 798-3817; Fax: (713) 798-3896; E-mail: mzhang{at}bcm.tmc.edu ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR. ![]()
Received 4/ 6/00. Accepted 7/17/01.
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linolenic acid regulates expression of maspin and the motility of cancer cells. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 237: 639-644, 1997.[Medline]
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