VEGF-targeting by Aflibercept directly attenuates the migration of colorectal cancer cells Anaïs Bouygues, Paul Mésange, Meriam Ayadi, Virginie Poindessous, Thierry André, Aimery de Gramont and Annette K. Larsen Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine INSERM U938 and Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, FRANCE INTRODUCTION (1) Ø Colorectal cancer cells and tumors express VEGF and VEGF receptor 1 (Flt-1) and, to a lesser degree, VEGF receptor 2 (Flk-1/KDR) thereby promoting autocrine VEGF signaling Ø Tumor-associated VEGF-signaling stimulates cell migration and enhance survival after environmental stress including hypoxia and 5-FU INTRODUCTION (2) Ø VEGFR1 is activated by VEGF-A, VEGF-B and PlGF Ø Aflibercept is a recombinant protein that binds and neutralizes VEGF-A, VEGF-B and PlGF Ø Aflibercept is approved for treatment of metastatic CRC OBJECTIVES Ø Determine the influence of Aflibercept on the migration of CRC cells Ø Establish which VEGF ligands and receptors influence cellular motility Ø Explore if VEGF signaling is upregulated in CRC cells with acquired 5-FU resistance and if yes, if this can be attenuated by Aflibercept Migration of human CRC cells 10000 Cell number 8000 Normoxia Hypoxia 6000 4000 2000 0 Boyden chamber migration assay Aflibercept attenuates CRC cell migration ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001 NORMOXIA 10000 Cell number Cell number 8000 6000 4000 *** *** *** *** 2000 0 10000 ** Control Aflibercept 8000 HYPOXIA ** ** *** *** Control ** Aflibercept 6000 *** *** 4000 *** 2000 0 *** *** *** ** *** *** Influence of VEGFR2 on CRC cell migration PIGF ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001 VEGF-‐A VEGF-‐B VEGF-‐E HCT-116 cellular model P P Control VEGF-A P P VEGFR-‐ VEGF-E 1 P P VEGF R-‐2 NORMOXIA 6000 HYPOXIA 6000 *** *** 3000 2000 1000 *** *** 5000 Cell number Cell number 5000 4000 P P 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Control Anti-VEGFR1 Anti-VEGFR2 0 Control Anti-VEGFR1 Anti-VEGFR2 Influence of VEGFR1 on CRC cell migration PIGF ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001 VEGF-‐A HCT-116 cellular model P P Control VEGF-B P P VEGFR-‐ PlGF VEGF-‐B 1 VEGF-‐E P P P P VEGF R-‐2 NORMOXIA HYPOXIA 6000 6000 4000 5000 ** *** Cell number Cell number 5000 3000 2000 4000 3000 2000 1000 1000 0 0 Control anti-VEGFR1 anti-VEGFR2 *** *** Control anti-VEGFR1 anti-VEGFR2 Influence of Aflibercept on 5-FU toxicity HCT-116 HCT-116 + Aflibercept HCT-116/5-FU HCT-116/5-FU + Aflibercept MTT Viability assay NORMOXIA HYPOXIA 100 Cell viability (% of control) Cell viability (% of control) 100 50 0 0,01 0,1 1 10 100 Concentration 5-FU (µM) 1000 50 0 0,01 0,1 1 10 100 Concentration 5-FU (µM) 1000 Acquired 5-FU resistance is accompanied by increased CRC cell migration *** p < 0.001 HCT-116 Cell number 5000 4000 3000 *** HCT-116/5-FU *** 2000 1000 0 Normoxia Hypoxia Boyden chamber migration assay Aflibercept attenuates the migration of parental and 5-FU resistant cells under normoxia and hypoxia Untreated *** p < 0.001 5000 5000 4000 4000 *** 3000 2000 1000 Aflibercept HYPOXIA *** Cell number Cell number NORMOXIA *** 3000 2000 *** 1000 0 0 HCT-116 HCT-116/5-FU HCT-116 HCT-116/5-FU Boyden chamber migration assay CONCLUSIONS (1) Ø The migration of CRC cells is highly cell type dependent Ø Aflibercept decreases the migration of CRC cells under both normoxia and hypoxia Ø Migration is stimulated by VEGF-A, VEGF-B and PlGF, but not VEGF-E, and is mediated by VEGFR1 CONCLUSIONS (2) Ø Aflibercept alone had no influence on the viability of HCT-116 parental and 5-FU resistant cells under normoxia or hypoxia Ø Aflibercept could attenuate the resistance of HCT-116/5-FU cells to 5-FU under hypoxia Ø 5-FU resistance was accompanied by increased migration that could be attenuated by Aflibercept under both normoxia and hypoxia Thank you for your attention
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