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Counterintuitive effect of extracellular fluid viscosity on enhancing motility and metastasis

ABSTRACT: Cells respond to physical stimuli, such as stiffness, fluid shear stress and hydraulic pressure. Extracellular fluid viscosity is a key physical cue that varies under physiological and pathological conditions, such as cancer. However, its impact on cancer biology and the mechanism by which cells sense and respond to changes in viscosity is unknown. We demonstrate that elevated viscosity counterintuitively increases the motility of various cell types on two-dimensional (2D) surfaces, in confinement, and cell dissemination from 3D tumor spheroids. Increased mechanical loading imposed by elevated viscosity induces an Actin Related Protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex-dependent dense actin network, which enhances Na+/H+ exchanger 1 (NHE1) polarization via its actin-binding partner ezrin. NHE1 promotes cell swelling and increased membrane tension which, in turn, activates transient receptor potential cation vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) and mediates calcium influx, leading to increased RhoA-dependent cell contractility. The coordinated action of actin remodeling/dynamics, NHE1-mediated swelling and RhoA-based contractility facilitates enhanced motility at elevated viscosities. Breast cancer cells pre-exposed to elevated viscosity acquire TRPV4-dependent mechanical memory via transcriptional control of the Hippo pathway, leading to increased migration in zebrafish, extravasation in chick embryos and lung metastasis in mice. Cumulatively, extracellular viscosity is a physical cue that regulates both short- and long-term cellular processes with pathophysiological relevance to cancer biology.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE203651 | GEO | 2022/07/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Rho-kinase signaling and YAP signaling are related to aortic dissection (AD) formation. However, as important biomechanical signaling pathways, their relationships with aortic smooth muscle cell (AoSMC) mechanics have not been investigated in AD formation. This study aims to explore the correlation between RhoA/ROCK1 and YAP, as well as their relationship with intrinsic AoSMC stiffness during AD formation. The expression of RhoA/ROCK1 and YAP as well as F-actin polymerization were analyzed in AoSMCs isolated from normal and AD human aortas. The intrinsic cell stiffness of normal and AD AoSMCs was measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The correlations among RhoA/ROCK1, YAP, and intrinsic AoSMC stiffness were explored by manipulating the activity of RhoA and ROCK1, and YAP expression. Finally, the role of RhoA/ROCK1/YAP/F-actin and AoSMC stiffness during AD formation was studied in pharmaceutically induced AD mouse models.Compared to normal human AoSMCs, the expression of RhoA and ROCK1 was downregulated, while the phosphorylation of YAP was increased in AD human AoSMCs, coupled with impaired F-actin polymerization and decreased intrinsic cell stiffness. Pharmaceutical inhibition of RhoA or ROCK1 activities and depletion of YAP all led to impaired F-actin polymerization and decreased intrinsic AoSMC stiffness. Moreover, abnormal collagen deposition and impaired cell-ECM interactions were found when RhoA/ROCK1/YAP/F-actin signaling was inhibited in normal human AoSMCs. We further analyzed the normal human AoSMC treated by Y27632 or not using RNA sequencing to investigate the impact of RhoA/ROCK1/YAP/F-actin on AoSMCs. GO analysis showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to cAMP-mediated signaling, cytoskeleton organization, cell-matrix adhesion, and extracellular matrix (ECM) organization were affected when ROCK1 activity was inhibited by Y27632 in normal AoSMCs. KEGG analysis showed differences in PI3K-Akt signaling, focal adhesion, MAPK, actin cytoskeleton, and ECM-receptor interaction. Consistently, cAMP, actin cytoskeleton organization, and ECM structural constituents were all downregulated in AoSMCs treated with Y27632 according to GSEA. We also analyzed the downregulated genes in AoSMCs treated with Y27632. Results demonstrated that the downregulated genes were mainly related to the cell-ECM unit, PI3K, MAPK, focal adhesion, and cAMP signaling pathways.

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Counterintuitive effect of extracellular fluid viscosity on enhancing motility and metastasis

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