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β-Catenin signaling in alveolar macrophages enhances lung metastasis through a TNF-dependent mechanism

ABSTRACT: The main cause of malignancy-related mortality is metastasis. While metastatic progression is driven by diverse tumor-intrinsic mechanisms, there is a growing appreciation for the contribution of tumor-extrinsic elements of the tumor microenvironment (TME), especially macrophages. Recruited macrophages infiltrating the TME are correlated with worse outcomes, because they are rendered pro-tumorigenic through defined tumor-driven transcription factor-mediated programs. However, the pathways that govern the dysregulation of tissue-resident macrophages (TRMs) are less well understood. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are a TRM population with critical roles in both tissue homeostasis and metastasis. Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a hallmark of cancer and has been identified as a pathologic regulator of AMs in infection. We tested the hypothesis that β-catenin expression in AMs enhances metastasis in solid tumor models. Using a novel genetic β-catenin gain-of-function approach, we demonstrated that 1) enhanced β-catenin in AMs heightened lung metastasis; 2) β-catenin activity in AMs drove a dysregulated inflammatory program strongly associated with Tnf expression; and 3) localized TNF blockade abrogated this metastatic outcome. Lastly, CTNNB1 and TNF expression were positively correlated in AMs of lung cancer patients. Overall, our findings revealed a novel Wnt/β-catenin–TNF-α pro-metastatic axis in AMs with potential therapeutic implications against tumors refractory to TNF-α induced necrosis.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE200508 | GEO | 2022/12/19

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Tumor: tumor microenvironment (TME) interactions are critical for tumor progression and the composition and structure of the local extracellular matrix (ECM) are key determinants of tumor metastasis. We recently reported that activation of Wnt/beta- catenin signaling in Ewing sarcoma cells induces widespread transcriptional changes that are associated with acquisition of a metastatic tumor phenotype. Significantly, ECM protein-encoding genes were found to be enriched among Wnt/beta-catenin induced transcripts, leading us to hypothesize that activation of canonical Wnt signaling might induce changes in the Ewing sarcoma secretome. To address this hypothesis, conditioned media from Ewing sarcoma cell lines cultured in the presence or absence of Wnt3a was collected for proteomic analysis. Label-free mass spectrometry was used to identify and quantify differentially secreted proteins. We then used in silico databases to identify only proteins annotated as secreted. Comparison of the secretomes of two Ewing sarcoma cell lines revealed numerous shared proteins, as well as a degree of heterogeneity, in both basal and Wnt-stimulated conditions. Gene set enrichment analysis of secreted proteins revealed that Wnt stimulation reproducibly resulted in increased secretion of proteins involved in ECM organization, ECM receptor interactions, and collagen formation. In particular, Wnt-stimulated Ewing sarcoma cells upregulated secretion of structural collagens, as well as matricellular proteins, such as the metastasis-associated protein, tenascin C (TNC). Interrogation of published databases confirmed reproducible correlations between Wnt/beta-catenin activation and TNC and COL1A1 expression in patient tumors. In summary, this first study of the Ewing sarcoma secretome reveals that Wnt/beta-catenin activated tumor cells upregulate secretion of ECM proteins. Such Wnt/beta-catenin mediated changes are likely to impact on tumor: TME interactions that contribute to metastatic progression.

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β-Catenin signaling in alveolar macrophages enhances lung metastasis through a TNF-dependent mechanism

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