Objective:To study explores the effect of HLEC on the secreted proteins of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells (SKOV3-PM4) with directional highly lymphatic metastasis.
Methods:Supernatants of four groups of cultured cells, namely, SKOV3 (A), SKOV3+HLEC (B), SKOV3-PM4 (C), SKOV3-PM4+HLEC (D), were collected, and their proteins were detected by antibody arrays and iTARQ-2D-LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF/MS. Signiifcantly differential proteins were further analyzed via bioinformatics and validated in human serums and cell media via ELISA.
Results:Results of antibody arrays and mass spectrometry demonstrated that GRN and VEGFA were upregulated in group C (compared with group A), whereas IGFBP7 and SPARC were downregulated in group D (compared with group C). Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis results showed that IGFBP7 and VEGFA were closely linked to each other. Further validation with serums showed statistical signiifcance in VEGFA and IGFBP7 levels among groups of patients with ovarian cancers, benign tumors, and control groups. Two proteins were upegulated in the ifrst group. VEGFA in the control group was downregulated. For IGFBP, upregulation in the control group and down-regulation in the ifrst group were also observed.
Conclusion:The HLEC microenvironment is closely associated with directional metastasis to lymph nodes and with differential proteins including cell stromal proteins and adhesion factors. hTe upregulation of VEGFA and GRN and the downregulation of SPARC and IGFBP7 are closely associated with directional metastasis to lymph nodes in EOC cells.

AIM:R-spondin 2 (Rspo2), one member of R-spondin family which contains four secreted proteins , plays an important role in skeletal muscle development .However, the impact of Rspo2 on vascular smooth muscle cell ( SMC) differentiation is little known . This study aims at revealing the role and mechanism of Rspo 2 on SMC differentiation from embryonic stem cells (ESCs).METHODS:A well-established model for studying SMC differentiation from ESCs were used , in which mouse embryonic stem cells ( ES-D3) were seeded on collagen IV-coated flasks and cultured in differentiation medium (DM) for 2, 4, 6 and 8 days.Smooth muscle specific markers, includingα-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), SM22 and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC), were detected to in-sure the successful model by qRT-PCR and Western blot .After 3-day pre-differentiation, ESCs were treated with recombinant Rspo 2 protein, overexpression plasmid or shRNA plasmid for 96 h, and the mRNA and protein expression of smooth muscle markers was detected.To explore the role of Rspo2 on SMC differentiation in vivo, 3-day predifferentiated ESCs (106 in 50μLα-MEM) incubated with Rspo2-overexpression plasmid were mixed with 50 μL of Matrigel ( Becton Dickinson Labware ) and then subcutaneously injected into C57BL/6J mice.After 12 days, mice were sacrificed and the implants were harvested for immunofluorescence staining , qRT-PCR and Western blot.Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP) and lucif-erase reporter assay were performed to investigate the transcriptional activity of SMC differentiation related transcription factors , inclu-ding serum response factor (SRF), myocardin (MYO), myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2C (MEF-2C).Involvement of Rspo2 re-ceptor, leucine-rich repeat-containing, G-protein-coupled receptors (Lgr)4,5,6, and β-catenin pathway during Rspo2-induced MSC differentiation were also uncovered by overexpression or inhibition of the respective protein .RESULTS:Our results showed that Rspo 2 mRNA and protein expression was significantly and consistently increased during ESC differentiation towards SMCs .Recombinant Rs-po2 protein and enforced Rspo 2 expression in ESCs resulted in up-regulation of smooth muscle markers and transcription factors , while knockdown decreased the expression of these genes .Expectedly , Rspo2 overexpression also promotes SMC differentiation in vivo.
Mechanistically , our data showed that Rspo 2 could promote SRF binding to SM22 promoter region .Evidence also revealed that one of three Rspo2 receptors, LGR5, was up-regulated while the other two , LGR4 and LGR6, was down-regulated.Silencing of LGR5 inhibi-ted Rspo2-induced SMC differentiation, whereas knockdown of LGR4 had no impact.Finally, activation or inhibition of β-catenin could promote or inhibit SMC differentiation , respectively .CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that Rspo 2 plays a positive role during smooth muscle cell differentiation from embryonic stem cells .We confirmed that Rspo 2 can up-regulate smooth muscle markers at transcription level .We also revealed Rspo promote smooth muscle cell differentiation through activation of LGR 5 re-ceptor and Wnt/β-catenin pathway .

TGFβ and Hypoxia Drive Breast Cancer Bone Metastases through Parallel Signaling Pathways in Tumor Cells and the Bone Microenvironment

Breast cancers frequently metastasize to bone, a site of hypoxia and high concentrations of active TGFβ. Skeletal metastases involve interactions between tumor and bone cells driven by locally secreted proteins, many of which are increased by hypoxia and TGFβ.