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Plexin-B2 promotes invasive growth of malignant glioma.
Le AP1,
Huang Y1,
Pingle SC2,
Kesari S2,
Wang H3,4,
Yong RL3,4,
Zou H1,3,
Friedel RH1,3.
- 1
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- 2
- Translational Neuro-Oncology Laboratories, Moores UCSD Cancer Center and Department of Neurosciences, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- 3
- Department of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- 4
- Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract
Invasive growth is a major determinant of the high lethality of malignant gliomas. Plexin-B2, an axon guidance receptor important for mediating neural progenitor cell migration during development, is upregulated in gliomas, but its function therein remains poorly understood. Combining bioinformatic analyses, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry of patient samples, we demonstrate that Plexin-B2 is consistently upregulated in all types of human gliomas and that its expression levels correlate with glioma grade and poor survival. Activation of Plexin-B2 by Sema4C ligand in glioblastoma cells induced actin-based cytoskeletal dynamics and invasive migration in vitro. This proinvasive effect was associated with activation of the cell motility mediators RhoA and Rac1. Furthermore, costimulation of Plexin-B2 and the receptor tyrosine kinase Met led to synergistic Met phosphorylation. In intracranial glioblastoma transplants, Plexin-B2 knockdown hindered invasive growth and perivascular spreading, and resulted in decreased tumor vascularity. Our results demonstrate that Plexin-B2 promotes glioma invasion and vascularization, and they identify Plexin-B2 as a potential novel prognostic marker for glioma malignancy. Targeting the Plexin-B2 pathway may represent a novel therapeutic approach to curtail invasive growth of glioblastoma.
KEYWORDS:
glioma invasion; plexin; semaphorin; tumor vasculature
Figure 1Plexin-B2 is upregulated in glioma
A) Relative Plexin-B gene expressions in glioma vs. normal brain from microarray data of four patient studies (B, Bredel et al. (n=49); S, Sun et al. (n=49); T, TCGA (n=424); R, Rembrandt (n=454)). Whiskers show top and bottom quartiles. PLXNB2 was upregulated in all four glioma studies. B) Relative PLXNB2 expression in four molecular subtypes of glioblastoma (TCGA dataset; proneural, n=113; neural, n=70; classical, n=112; mesenchymal, n=128). C) Abundance of Plexin-B and Sema4 mRNA in TCGA glioblastoma samples (n=169), shown as RSEM counts (upper quartile boundary normalized to 1000). PLXNB2 exhibited the highest mean abundance level overall, and SEMA4B, 4C and 4D exhibited higher levels than other Sema4s. D) PLXNB2 mean expression is significantly increased in all WHO glioma types (NCI/Rembrandt patient cohort; n=454; probeset 208890_s_at) and highest in glioblastoma (p<0.001). E) Western blot of nine surgical samples from glioma patients reveals robust Plexin-B2 protein expression (170 kDa band is the processed, mature form of Plexin-B2). Normal human cortex served as control. Plexin-B1 and -B3 protein are variably expressed among glioma samples.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
Figure 2Plexin-B2 expression in glioma correlates with survival
A) Representative images of DAB immunolabeling for Plexin-B2 in normal brain and glioma tissues (n=69). Bar graph summarizes scored signal intensities in different glioma samples (“low” refers to Plexin-B2 immunointensity as found in normal brain). Scale bar: 20 μm. B) Kaplan-Meier survival curves of NCI/Rembrandt glioma patient cohorts. Upregulated Plexin-B2 expression (>2-fold of average normal brain) corresponded with shorter survival time of all glioma patients combined (p<10−4, see for details). Upregulated Plexin-B2 expression correlated with shorter survival in astrocytoma patients (p<10−2), and to a lesser degree in oligodendroglioma and glioblastoma patients.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
Figure 3Plexin-B2 expression in glioma cell lines and shRNA knockdown
A) Western blot of nine human ATTC glioma cell lines and four glioblastoma stem cell lines (GSC) reveals robust Plexin-B2 protein expression. Normal human astrocytes (NHA) served as control. Plexin-B1 and -B3 are expressed at variable levels in ATCC glioma cell lines and in GSC. B) Stable knockdown of Plexin-B2 with two lentiviral shRNA vectors in LN229, U87MG, and SD02 lines, as measured by Western blot quantification. C) Immunocytochemistry for Plexin-B2 in LN229, U87MG, and SD02 cells confirms reduced Plexin-B2 expression in knockdown lines. Scale bar: 20 μm.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
Figure 4Plexin-B2 activation induces cytoskeletal dynamics in glioma cells
A) LN229 cells were stimulated with SEMA4C-Fc or control supernatant for 5 min. Phalloidin staining reveals reduced filamentous actin stress fibers and formation of membrane ruffle following SEMA4C-Fc stimulation in control but less so in Plexin-B2 shRNA knockdown cells. Scale bar: 20 μm. B) Scratch wound assay images of LN229 cells stimulated with either SEMA4C-Fc or control supernatant for 24 hours. Note increased wound closure in control but not in Plexin-B2 shRNA cells with SEMA4C-Fc stimulation. Quantification shows results for LN229 and U87MG cells (n=3; p<0.05). Scale bar: 100 μm.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
Figure 5Plexin-B2 stimulation activates small GTPases RhoA and Rac1 and synergizes with HGF in Met phosphorylation
A) Sema4C-Fc stimulation for 5 min activates RhoA and Rac1 in LN229 cells measured by a G-LISA Activation Assay (Cytoskeleton) (n=3). B) Western blot analysis of Met expression in ATCC glioma cell lines and GSC (the 140 kDa band represents a processed form of Met). C) Analysis of Met phosphorylation (pMet) in LN229 cells after stimulation with SEMA4C-Fc, HGF (at sub-saturating concentration of 1 ng/ml) or both shows synergy on pMet levels.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
Figure 6Invasive glioma growth is diminished by Plexin-B2 knockdown
(A-B) Representative images and quantifications of intracranial transplants of LN229 (A) and U87MG cells (B) at 2 weeks post-transplant (n=3 transplants for each cell line). Tumor cells are labeled by GFP expression (green), and microvessels by CD31 staining (red). Arrows point to cell invasions from main tumor mass. Scale bars: 500 μm (upper panels), 25 μm (lower panels). C) Intracranial transplants of SD02 GSC at 2 weeks post-transplant show close alignment and attachment of tumor cells (GFP+, green) and microvessels (CD31+, red) in control shRNA transplants (arrows). Plexin-B2 knockdown results in misalignment and reduced percentage of infiltrating tumor cells attached to microvasculature (arrowheads). Quantification is shown on the right (n=3). Scale bar: 25 μm.
Oncotarget. 2015 Mar 30;6(9):7293-7304.
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