TY - JOUR
T1 - Brain-Metastatic Melanoma
T2 - A Neurotrophic Perspective
AU - Marchetti, Dario
AU - Denkins, Yvonne
AU - Reiland, Jane
AU - Greiter-Wilke, Andrea
AU - Galjour, Jennifer
AU - Murry, Brian
AU - Blust, Jason
AU - Roy, Madhuchhanda
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to DM. The Authors wish to thank Ms. Kathleen Kirvin for her secretarial assistance.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - The brain is a unique microenvironment enclosed by the skull and maintaining a highly regulated vascular transport barrier. To metastasize to the brain, malignant tumor cells must attach to microvessel endothelial cells, invade the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and respond to brain survival and growth factors. Neurotrophins (NT) are important in brain invasion because they stimulate this process. In brain-metastatic melanoma cells, NT can promote invasion by enhancing the production of extracellular matrix-degradative enzymes such as heparanase, an enzyme capable of locally destroying both the extracellular matrix and the basement membrane of the BBB. We have examined human and murine melanoma cell lines exhibiting varying abilities to form brain metastases, and have found that they express low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75NTR in relation to their brain-metastatic potentials. They do not, however, express trkA, the gene encoding the tyrosine kinase receptor TrkA, the high-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor (NGF), the prototypic NT. Presence of functional TrkC, the putative receptor for the invasion-promoting neurotrophin NT-3, was also expressed in these cells. Brain-metastatic melanoma cells can also produce autocrine factors and inhibitors that influence their growth, invasion, and survival in the brain. Synthesis of these factors may influence NT production by brain cells adjacent to the neoplastic invasion front, such as oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. In brain biopsies, we observed increased amounts of NGF and NT-3 in tumor-adjacent tissues at the invasion front of human melanoma tumors. Additionally, we found that astrocytes contribute to the brain-metastatic specificity of melanoma cells by producing NT-regulated heparanase. Trophic, autocrine, and paracrine growth factors may therefore determine whether metastatic cells can successfully invade, colonize, and grow in the central nervous system (CNS).
AB - The brain is a unique microenvironment enclosed by the skull and maintaining a highly regulated vascular transport barrier. To metastasize to the brain, malignant tumor cells must attach to microvessel endothelial cells, invade the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and respond to brain survival and growth factors. Neurotrophins (NT) are important in brain invasion because they stimulate this process. In brain-metastatic melanoma cells, NT can promote invasion by enhancing the production of extracellular matrix-degradative enzymes such as heparanase, an enzyme capable of locally destroying both the extracellular matrix and the basement membrane of the BBB. We have examined human and murine melanoma cell lines exhibiting varying abilities to form brain metastases, and have found that they express low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75NTR in relation to their brain-metastatic potentials. They do not, however, express trkA, the gene encoding the tyrosine kinase receptor TrkA, the high-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor (NGF), the prototypic NT. Presence of functional TrkC, the putative receptor for the invasion-promoting neurotrophin NT-3, was also expressed in these cells. Brain-metastatic melanoma cells can also produce autocrine factors and inhibitors that influence their growth, invasion, and survival in the brain. Synthesis of these factors may influence NT production by brain cells adjacent to the neoplastic invasion front, such as oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. In brain biopsies, we observed increased amounts of NGF and NT-3 in tumor-adjacent tissues at the invasion front of human melanoma tumors. Additionally, we found that astrocytes contribute to the brain-metastatic specificity of melanoma cells by producing NT-regulated heparanase. Trophic, autocrine, and paracrine growth factors may therefore determine whether metastatic cells can successfully invade, colonize, and grow in the central nervous system (CNS).
KW - Astrocytes
KW - Brain metastasis
KW - Heparanase
KW - Malignant melanoma
KW - Neurotrophin receptors
KW - Neurotrophins
KW - P75
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U2 - 10.1007/BF03033729
DO - 10.1007/BF03033729
M3 - Review article
C2 - 14530807
AN - SCOPUS:0242595644
VL - 9
SP - 147
EP - 158
JO - Pathology and Oncology Research
JF - Pathology and Oncology Research
SN - 1219-4956
IS - 3
ER -