Abstract 2304: Stem features associated with EMT are driven by TGFβ1 in liver-metastatic cells

The liver is a major target organ for metastasis. Development of metastases requires an early release of tumour-initiating-cells from the primary tumour and adhesion of metastatic-cells into a permissive niche. We hypothesized that Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) underlies not only the early events, but also the promotion of the most advanced stages of a successful dissemination process to the liver. It is believed that TGFβ1 might allow tumour-initiating-cells to acquire cancer stem cell properties via EMT as a mechanism that modulates the microenvironment contributing to primary and also metastatic tumor progression. However, the mechanism of EMT induction by TGFβ1 and its involvement in liver metastases remain largely unknown. Aiming to recapitulate the hepatic metastases, we established a murine model of highly metastatic colon carcinoma cells in the context of TGFβ1-signaling. To this end, luciferase-expressing cells (MC-38luc) were pre-treated with TGFβ1 (100 pM, 48 h), before intrasplenic injection of 106 cells in C57BL/6J mice. Larger primary tumours were consistently observed and liver metastasis was achieved more rapidly after injection of MC-38luc+TGFβ1 cells, than after injection of untreated MC-38luc cells. Histological examination of liver micrometastasis also revealed slightly increased staining of Ki67, α-SMA and F4/80 markers in MC-38luc+TGFβ1 tumours. Splenic co-injection of these liver-metastatic-stem cells with non transformed hepatocytes (AML-12 cells) accelerated the incidence of liver metastasis, indicating the supportive role of the normal hepatic parenchyma. Intraperitoneal injection with a novel TGFβ1-inhibitory peptide P17 (obtained from a peptide library binding to TGFβ1) resulted in reduced liver metastasis and decrease of both CECs and CEPs. We isolated liver-metastatic cells that showed higher cellular proliferation as compared to the parental counterparts. These cells posses increased tumorogenicity in vivo, a complete lack of E-cadherin expression, and increased TGFβ1/EMT signalling properties that all relate to stem cell features. Our results provide an insight into the molecular events leading to TGFβ1-mediated malignant progression and indicate that targeting TGFβ1/EMT might represent an optimal therapeutic strategy by impairing tumor growth, stemness and further liver metastasis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2304.