Is angiogenesis an organizing principle in biology and medicine?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Judah Folkman.
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The targeted inactivation of oncogenes offers a rational therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer. However, the therapeutic inactivation of a single oncogene has been associated with tumor recurrence. Therefore, it is necessary to develop strategies to override mechanisms of tumor escape from oncogene dependence. We report here that the targeted inactivation of MYC is sufficient to induce sustained regression of hematopoietic tumors in transgenic mice, except in tumors that had lost p53 function. p53 negative tumors were unable to be completely eliminated, as demonstrated by the kinetics of tumor cell elimination revealed by bioluminescence imaging. Histological examination revealed that upon MYC inactivation, the loss of p53 led to a deficiency in thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression, a potent antiangiogenic protein, and the subsequent inability to shut off angiogenesis. Restoration of p53 expression in these tumors re-established TSP-1 expression. This permitted the suppression of angiogenesis and subsequent sustained tumor regression upon MYC inactivation. Similarly, the restoration of TSP-1 alone in p53 negative tumors resulted in the shut down of angiogenesis and led to sustained tumor regression upon MYC inactivation. Hence, the complete regression of tumor mass driven by inactivation of the MYC oncogene requires the p53-dependent induction of TSP-1 and the shut down of angiogenesis. Notably, overexpression of TSP-1 alone did not influence tumor growth. Therefore, the combined inactivation of oncogenes and angiogenesis may be a more clinically effective treatment of cancer. We conclude that angiogenesis is an essential component of oncogene addiction.
Inactivation of p53 function, which frequently occurs in tumors, can significantly modulate tumor cell sensitivity to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs. However, in addition to acting on malignant cells, anticancer agents act on the cells of tumor stroma, causing activation of a p53 response. The effect of this response on treatment outcome has been the subject of the present study. Tumors with p53-deficient stroma were generated using mouse tumorigenic packaging cells that produce a p53 inhibitory retrovirus, encoding a dominant-negative p53 mutant. Tumors maintaining wild-type p53 in their stroma were formed by cells of similar origin but deficient in retroviral production due to the deletion of the packaging signal in the retroviral vector. Comparison of these tumor models, differing only in p53 status of their stromas, showed that tumors with p53-deficient stroma were significantly more sensitive to experimental chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A similar effect was achieved when anticancer treatment was combined with pharmacologic suppression of p53 by the cyclic form of pifithrin alpha, a small-molecule inhibitor of p53. Potentiation of the anticancer effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy by p53 suppression in the tumor stroma is likely to be due to the increased sensitivity of p53-deficient endothelium to genotoxic stress as shown both in cell culture and in experimental tumors. Thus, reversible pharmacologic suppression of p53 may be a viable approach to improving anticancer treatment via an enhanced antiangiogenic effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Recent research shows that p53 suppresses tumor angiogenesis by transcriptionally activating the alpha(II) collagen prolyl-4-hydroxylase gene. This results in the extracellular release of the potent endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors endostatin and tumstatin from collagens 18 and 4, respectively. The involvement of these inhibitors elucidates a molecular mechanism. By simultaneously repressing a multitude of proangiogenic pathways and by inducing antiangiogenic pathways, a tumor suppressor protein can prevent an incipient tumor from switching to the angiogenic phenotype. Thus, p53 guards the genome from cancer by controlling the three fundamental processes that are critical for growth of a primary tumor and its metastases-tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, and tumor angiogenesis.
BACKGROUND: Invasive cell carcinoma of the bladder often develops after complete transurethral excision of superficial transitional cell carcinoma. It has been postulated that primary tumors release angiogenesis-blocking proteins which suppress distant metastases. We have identified an endogenous protein which might be responsible for tumor dormancy. METHODS: A transitional cell carcinoma cell line was developed (UMUC-3i) which inhibits the growth of a tumor implant at a distant site in SCID mice. Conditioned media of UMUC-3i cultured cells was first pooled and then fractioned, and the capacity of individual components to block endothelial cell growth was tested. The protein fraction responsible for blocking endothelial cell growth was identified by N-terminal amino acid sequencing as well as by mass-spectrometry. The effects of the purified protein in preventing endothelial cell proliferation and tube formation in an in vitro angiogenesis assay was investigated. RESULTS: The plasma protein beta(2)-glycoprotein-I (beta(2)gpI) was isolated and identified from conditioned medium of UMUC-3i cultured cells. Based on the in vitro angiogenesis assay, beta(2)gpI strongly inhibited endothelial cell growth and tube formation, whereby the inhibitory activity corresponded to the clipped version of beta(2)gpI (cbeta(2)gpI). Clipping was induced by adding plasmin at a molar ratio 1:15 (plasmin:substrate). Further analysis indicated that cbeta(2)gpI effects were mediated by annexin II surface receptors expressed on endothelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: cbeta2gpI may be involved in blocking angiogenic processes and bladder cancer progression. In this case, cbeta2gpI may be a promising tool in bladder cancer therapy.
Tumor progression depends on sequential events, including a switch to the angiogenic phenotype (i.e., initial recruitment of blood vessels). Failure of a microscopic tumor to complete one or more early steps in this process may lead to delayed clinical manifestation of the cancer. Microscopic human cancers can remain in an asymptomatic, non-detectable, and occult state for the life of a person. Clinical and experimental evidence suggest that human tumors can persist for long periods of time as microscopic lesions that are in a state of dormancy (i.e., not expanding in tumor mass). Because it is well established that tumor growth beyond the size of 1-2 mm is angiogenesis-dependent, we hypothesized that presentation of large tumors is attributed to a switch to the angiogenic phenotype in otherwise microscopic, dormant tumors. Although clinically important, the biology of human tumor dormancy is poorly understood. The development of animal models which recapitulate the clinically observed timing and proportion of dormant tumors which switch to the angiogenic phenotype are reviewed here. The contributing molecular mechanisms involved in the angiogenic switch and different strategies for isolation of both angiogenic and non-angiogenic tumor cell populations from otherwise heterogeneous human tumor cell lines or surgical specimens are also summarized. Several imaging techniques have been utilized for the qualitative and quantitative detection of microscopic tumors in mice and their strengths and limitations are discussed. The animal models employed here permitted further studies of the angiogenic switch. These models also allowed development of an angiogenesis-based panel of blood and urine biomarkers that can be quantified and used to detect microscopic tumors before or during the angiogenic switch. If the information obtained from these animal models is translatable to the clinic, it may be possible in the future to liberate the management of cancer from a dependency on anatomical site years before it becomes symptomatic and detectable.
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The disease state of cancer appears late in tumor development. Before being diagnosed, a tumor can remain for prolonged periods of time in a dormant state. Dormant human cancer is commonly defined as a microscopic tumor that does not expand in size and remains asymptomatic. Dormant tumors represent an early stage in tumor development and may therefore be a potential target for nontoxic, antiangiogenic therapy that could prevent tumor recurrence. Here, we characterize an experimental model that recapitulates the clinical dormancy of human tumors in mice. We demonstrate that these microscopic dormant cancers switch to the angiogenic phenotype at a predictable time. We further show that while angiogenic liposarcomas expand rapidly after inoculation of tumor cells in mice, nonangiogenic dormant liposarcomas remain microscopic up to one-third of the normal severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mouse life span, although they contain proliferating tumor cells. Nonangiogenic dormant tumors follow a similar growth pattern in subcutaneous (s.c.) and orthotopic environments. Throughout the dormancy period, development of intratumoral vessels is impaired. In nonangogenic dormant tumors, small clusters of endothelial cells without lumens are observed early after tumor cell inoculation, but the nonangiogenic tumor cannot sustain these vessels, and they disappear within weeks. There is a concomitant decrease in microvessel density, and the nonangiogenic dormant tumor remains harmless to the host. In contrast, microvessel density in tumors increases rapidly after the angiogenic switch and correlates with rapid expansion of tumor mass. Both tumor types cultured in vitro contain fully transformed cells, but only cells from the nonangiogenic human liposarcoma secrete relatively high levels of the angiogenesis inhibitors thrombospondin-1 and TIMP-1. This model suggests that as improved blood or urine molecular biomarkers are developed, the microscopic, nonangiogenic, dormant phase of human cancer may be vulnerable to antiangiogenic therapy years before symptoms, or before anatomical location of a tumor can be detected, by conventional methods.
BACKGROUND: Microscopic human cancers can remain dormant for life. Tumor progression depends on sequential events, including a switch to the angiogenic phenotype, i.e., initial recruitment of new vessels. We previously demonstrated that human tumors contain tumor cell populations that are heterogeneous in angiogenic activity. Here, we separated angiogenic from nonangiogenic human tumor cell populations and compared their growth. METHODS: Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice were inoculated with nonangiogenic human MDA-MB-436 breast adenocarcinoma, KHOS-24OS osteosarcoma, or T98G glioblastoma cells. Most of the resulting tumors remained microscopic (<1 mm diameter), but some eventually became angiogenic and enlarged and were used to isolate angiogenic tumor cells. Angiogenic and nonangiogenic tumor cells were inoculated into SCID mice, and time to the development of palpable tumors was determined. Cell proliferation was assayed in vitro by growth curves and in vivo by staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen or Ki67. Microscopic tumors from both tumor cell populations were examined for histologic evidence of vascular development 14 days after inoculation in mice. Expression of the angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin-1 was examined by immunoblotting. RESULTS: Nonangiogenic tumors of each tumor type developed palpable tumors after means of 119 days (range: 53-185 days) for breast cancer, 238 days (184-291 days) for osteosarcoma, and 226 days (150-301 days) for glioblastoma. Angiogenic cells developed palpable tumors within 20 days after inoculation. However, nonangiogenic and angiogenic cells of each tumor type had similar proliferation rates. Fourteen days after tumor cell inoculation, tumors from angiogenic cells showed evidence of functional vasculature. In contrast, nonangiogenic tumors remained microscopic in size with absent or nonfunctional vasculature. Thrombospondin-1 expression was statistically significantly lower (by five- to 23-fold, depending on tumor type) in angiogenic than nonangiogenic cells. CONCLUSIONS: This model provides a conceptual framework and a reproducible in vivo system to study unresolved central questions in cancer biology regarding the initiation, reversibility, and molecular regulation of the timing of the angiogenic switch.
Platelets contain both pro- and antiangiogenic factors, but their regulatory role in angiogenesis is poorly understood. Although previous studies showed that platelets stimulate angiogenesis in vitro, the role of platelets in angiogenesis in vivo is largely uncharacterized. To address this topic, we used two in vivo approaches, the cornea micropocket assay and the Matrigel model, in four animal models: thrombocytopenic, Lyst(bg) (platelet storage pool deficiency), glycoprotein (GP) Ibalpha/IL4R transgenic (lacking extracellular GPIbalpha, the receptor for von Willebrand factor as well as other adhesive and procoagulant proteins), and FcgammaR(-/-) (lacking functional GPVI, the collagen receptor) mice. Adult mice were rendered thrombocytopenic by i.p. administration of an antiplatelet antibody. The number of growing vessels in the thrombocytopenic mice was lower in the cornea assay, and they showed significantly increased appearance of hemorrhage compared with mice treated with control IgG. The thrombocytopenic mice also showed more protein leakage and developed hematomas in the Matrigel model. GPIbalpha/IL4R transgenic mice presented increased hemorrhage in both assays, but it was less severe than in the platelet-depleted mice. FcgammaR(-/-) and Lyst(bg) mice showed no defect in experimental angiogenesis. Intravital microscopy revealed a >3-fold increase in platelet adhesion to angiogenic vessels of Matrigel compared with mature quiescent skin vessels. Our results suggest that the presence of platelets not only stimulates angiogenic vessel growth but also plays a critical role in preventing hemorrhage from the angiogenic vessels. The adhesion function of platelets, as mediated by GPIbalpha, significantly contributes to the process.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the active peptide regions inside the angiogenesis inhibitor endostatin that can inhibit endothelial migration in vitro and also inhibit endometriosis in a mouse model. DESIGN: Pharmacologic intervention in a surgically induced mouse model of endometriosis and endothelial migration assay. SETTING: Animal research and laboratory facility. SUBJECT(S): Eight-week-old, female C57BL/6 mice and human microvascular endothelial cells. INTERVENTION(S): Eight overlapping synthetic peptides were tested for inhibitory potential on endothelial migration in vitro. The peptides with significant activity then were given for 4 weeks to mice after implantation of autologous endometrium. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor-induced endothelial migration for in vitro studies. In vivo studies examined the growth rate of endometriotic lesions after 4 weeks of treatment, as well as the effect on estrous cycling and ovulation as assessed by corpus luteum formation. RESULT(S): The N-terminal mP-1 peptide and the internal mP-6 peptide inhibited endothelial migration in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, both synthetic peptides suppressed growth of endometriotic lesions significantly in vivo. However, estrous cycling and corpus luteum formation were normal in both groups. CONCLUSION(S): Short endostatin fragments may be promising as a new, nontoxic therapeutic strategy for the treatment of endometriosis without inhibition of normal estrous cycles.
Angiogenesis inhibitors for the treatment of cancer have now been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, and in 28 other countries including China. Clinical application of this new class of drugs is informed by certain principles from angiogenesis research. Oncogenic mutations initiate tumorigenesis, but angiogenesis is necessary for expansion of tumor mass. Two angiogenesis inhibitors have been developed that have a broad spectrum of anticancer activity, yet virtually no side effects. Endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors act as tumor suppressor proteins. The angiogenic response in vivo is based on the genetic background of the host. Several types of angiogenesis inhibitors reveal a biphasic, U-shaped curve of efficacy. "Antiangiogenic chemotherapy" is a novel approach to the treatment of drug resistance.
Here we report the reversal of cholestasis in 2 infants with intestinal failure and parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease. Treatment involved the substitution of a conventional intravenous fat emulsion with one containing primarily omega-3 fatty acids. Biochemical tests of liver function improved significantly. One child was removed from the liver transplantation list because of improved hepatic function, and the second child had complete resolution of cholestasis while solely on parenteral nutrition. This suggests that fat emulsions made from fish oils may be an effective means of treating and preventing this often-fatal condition. A randomized, controlled trial is necessary to study the efficacy of this new approach to parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease.
Endometriosis, the presence of ectopic endometrial tissue, is a common disease associated with high morbidity and socioeconomic problems. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, plays an important role in the formation and growth of endometriotic lesions. We have created a novel, noninvasive model to monitor the growth of these lesions and the associated angiogenesis in vivo. First, we generated luciferase-expressing transgenic mice by inserting the human ubiquitin C promoter coupled to the firefly luciferase reporter. Injection of luciferin in these mice causes full-body bioluminescence, which can be detected using a low-light CCD camera. Endometrial tissue from these transgenic mice was surgically implanted into nonluminescent recipients. Bioluminescence of lesions was noninvasively imaged after intravenous or intraperitoneal injection of luciferin. Transabdominal luminescence compared well with the location of the transgenic endometriotic lesions, and lesion size correlated with the intensity of luminescence. Systemic treatment with the angiogenesis inhibitors caplostatin and endostatin peptide mP-1 delayed and suppressed the onset and intensity of the luminescent signal. Caplostatin suppressed the growth of endometriotic lesions by 59% compared with controls. This novel, noninvasive model of endometriosis provides a means to study early angiogenesis in vivo and to monitor endometriotic growth and the efficacy of systemic antiangiogenic therapy.
The first angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer have now been approved by the F.D.A. in the U.S. and in 28 other countries, including China. The majority of these are monotherapies that block VEGF. However, mutant tumor cells may over time produce redundant angiogenic factors. Therefore, for long-term use in cancer, combinations of angiogenesis inhibitors or broad spectrum angiogenesis inhibitors will be needed. The two most broad spectrum and least toxic angiogenesis inhibitors are Caplostatin and endostatin. Endostatin inhibits 65 different tumor types and modifies 12% of the human genome to downregulate pathological angiogenesis without side-effects. The recent discovery that small increases in circulating endostatin can suppress tumor growth and that orally available small molecules can increase endostatin in the plasma suggests the possible development of a new pharmaceutical field.
The origin of the pathogenic endothelial cells in common infantile hemangioma is unknown. We show here that the transcriptomes of human placenta and infantile hemangioma are sufficiently similar to suggest a placental origin for this tumor, expanding on recent immunophenotypical studies that have suggested this possibility [North, P. E., et al. (2001) Arch. Dermatol. 137, 559-570]. The transcriptomes of placenta, hemangioma, and eight normal and diseased tissues were compared by hierarchical and nonhierarchical clustering analysis of >7,800 genes. We found that the level of transcriptome similarity between placenta and hemangioma exceeded that of any other tissue compared and paralleled that observed between a given tissue and its derived tumor, such as normal and cancerous lung. The degree of similarity was even greater when a subset of endothelial cell-specific genes was analyzed. Genes preferentially expressed in both placenta and hemangiomas were identified, including 17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 and tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2. These data demonstrate the value of global molecular profiling of tissues as a tool for hypothesis-driven research. Furthermore, it suggests that the unique self-limited growth of infantile hemangioma may, in fact, mirror the lifetime of placental endothelium.
We show here that recombinant endostatin protein has a biphasic effect on the inhibition of endothelial cell migration in vitro. In tumor-bearing animals, there is a similar biphasic effect on the inhibition of tumor growth and on circulating endothelial cells after once-daily s.c. injections. This biphasic effect is revealed as a U-shaped curve in which efficacy is optimal between very low and very high doses depending on the tumor type. This result may be applicable to other inhibitors of endothelial growth and to angiogenesis. Furthermore, these results have important implications for clinicians who administer angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer or other angiogenesis-dependent diseases. When these results are taken together with two previous reports of angiogenesis inhibitors with a U-shaped dose-response, they suggest that other regulators of endothelial growth may display a similar pattern.