Osteotropism of neuroendocrine tumors: role of the CXCL12/ CXCR4 pathway in promoting EMT in vitro.

ABSTRACT: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) metastasize to the skeleton in approximately 20% of patients. We have previously shown that the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulates the NET osteotropism and that CXCR4 overexpression predicts bone spreading. Here, we unravel the molecular mechanisms linking the activation of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis to the bone colonization of NETs using cell lines representative of pancreatic (BON1, CM, QGP1), intestinal (CNDT 2.5), and bronchial origin (H727). By combining flow cytometry and ELISA, BON1, CM and QGP1 cells were defined as CXCR4high/CXCL12low, while H727 and CNDT 2.5 were CXCR4low/CXCL12high. CXCL12 was inert on cell proliferation, but significantly increased the in vitro osteotropism of CXCR4high/CXCL12low cells, as assessed by transwell assays with

SUBMITTER: Cives M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5410243 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature