How Do Tumour-Affected Cells Make Blood Vessels More Leakier
Blood vessels in tumour tissues leak more than blood vessels in normal tissues. Researchers from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Albany—SUNY investigated whether tumour cells might decrease endothelial cells’ clockwise direction and lead them to disorganize in the artery. Their findings show that direct interaction between cancer and blood cells causes them to shift from their typical clockwise orientation to a more metastasis-prone counterclockwise orientation.
Researchers published the study, “Interacting with tumor cells weakens the intrinsic clockwise chirality of endothelial cells.” in APL Bioengineering.
Researchers’ Explanation of the experiment
The researchers created a model that investigates the local communication between endothelial cells and tumour cells, as well as the impact on endothelial cell orientation.
“Under normal settings, endothelial cells (ECs) have a significant intrinsic clockwise (CW, or rightward) chirality,” the researchers noted. “Enervating this chirality of ECs severely affects endothelial barrier function.” Malignant tumour cells (TCs) spread by taking advantage of aberrant blood vessel leaks. However, the effect of TCs on EC chirality is yet unknown. To replicate the TC-EC interaction, we co-cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells or human lung microvascular endothelial cells with breast epithelial tumour cell lines in a transwell model.”
“We believe that endothelial cells’ strong clockwise chirality is important for maintaining blood vessel integrity, but it could be damaged/weakened by tumour cells, which may increase the risk of metastasis,” said Jie Fan, MD, PhD, study author and assistant professor of biology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “By enhancing the chirality and the integrity of the endothelial barrier of blood vessels, we may be able to limit tumour transmigration.”
Tumour cells impacted the chirality of hUVECs
Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (hUVECs) were co-cultured with a variety of tumour cell lines with varying degrees of malignancy. They next evaluated how hUVECs reacted when tumour cells were physically contacting them vs when they were not.
They discovered that direct physical contact with tumour cells impacted the clockwise chirality of hUVECs more than local hormone signalling. Specific proteins on tumour cells that interact with others on endothelial cells appeared to have a role in modifying hUVECs’ clockwise chirality.
“We anticipated the tumour cell to infiltrate the endothelium cell,” Fan explained. “However, we discovered that the endothelial cells on the micropattern were going towards the tumour cell.”
Fan believes that modulating this connection has the potential to improve cancer metastasis management, and he plans to continue working on creating medicines in this area.
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