Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Cancer-associated fibroblasts regulate endothelial adhesion protein LPP to promote ovarian cancer chemoresistance
Cecilia S. Leung, … , Michael J. Birrer, Samuel C. Mok
Cecilia S. Leung, … , Michael J. Birrer, Samuel C. Mok
Published December 18, 2017
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2018;128(2):589-606. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI95200.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Cell biology Oncology

Cancer-associated fibroblasts regulate endothelial adhesion protein LPP to promote ovarian cancer chemoresistance

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

The molecular mechanism by which cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) confer chemoresistance in ovarian cancer is poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the roles of CAFs in modulating tumor vasculature, chemoresistance, and disease progression. Here, we found that CAFs upregulated the lipoma-preferred partner (LPP) gene in microvascular endothelial cells (MECs) and that LPP expression levels in intratumoral MECs correlated with survival and chemoresistance in patients with ovarian cancer. Mechanistically, LPP increased focal adhesion and stress fiber formation to promote endothelial cell motility and permeability. siRNA-mediated LPP silencing in ovarian tumor–bearing mice improved paclitaxel delivery to cancer cells by decreasing intratumoral microvessel leakiness. Further studies showed that CAFs regulate endothelial LPP via a calcium-dependent signaling pathway involving microfibrillar-associated protein 5 (MFAP5), focal adhesion kinase (FAK), ERK, and LPP. Thus, our findings suggest that targeting endothelial LPP enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. Our data highlight the importance of CAF–endothelial cell crosstalk signaling in cancer chemoresistance and demonstrate the improved efficacy of using LPP-targeting siRNA in combination with cytotoxic drugs.

Authors

Cecilia S. Leung, Tsz-Lun Yeung, Kay-Pong Yip, Kwong-Kwok Wong, Samuel Y. Ho, Lingegowda S. Mangala, Anil K. Sood, Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, Jianting Sheng, Stephen T.C. Wong, Michael J. Birrer, Samuel C. Mok

×

Figure 1

CAF-induced endothelial LPP expression in ovarian cancer.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
CAF-induced endothelial LPP expression in ovarian cancer.
(A) TIME MECs ...
(A) TIME MECs cocultured with CAFs had significantly higher motility rates and monolayer permeability compared with MECs cocultured with NOFs. P values were determined by 2-tailed Student’s t test. (B) Heatmap generated from transcriptome analyses of RNA samples isolated from TIME cells cocultured with CAFsor NOFs. A total of 1,394 genes and 2,106 genes wereup- and downregulated, respectively, in TIME cells cocultured with CAFs versus MECs cocultured with NOFs (fold change >1.5; Benjamini-Hochberg multiple testing–adjusted P < 0.05). LPP was identified as one of the significantly upregulated genes. (C) Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses of endothelial cells RNA samples confirmed that endothelial LPP expression was upregulated in the presence of CAFs (#P < 0.0001, by 2-tailed Student’s t test). (D) Hematoxylin- counterstained images of immunolocalization of LPP in a normal ovary and a high-grade serous ovarian cancer showing that ovarian tumor MECs had higher LPP expression levels than did normal ovarian MECs. Scale bars: 50 μm. (E) Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to evaluate the clinical relevance of endothelial LPP expression in patients with HGSC. Elevated endothelial LPP expression was associated with lower overall and progression-free survival. The median overall survival rate of HGSC patients with high endothelial LPP levels (23 months) was significantly shorter than that of patients with low endothelial LPP levels (76 months) (n = 129; P < 0.001, by log-rank test). The median progression-free survival rate duration of HGSC patients with high endothelial LPP levels (6 months) was significantly shorter than that of patients with low endothelial LPP levels (10 months) (n = 100; P < 0.037, by log-rank test). (F) CAFs increased endothelial cell motility, and the motility-promoting effect of CAFs was attenuated in endothelial cells transfected with LPP-targeting siRNAs. Motility assays were performed using Boyden chambers. Endothelial cells in the upper chamber were allowed to migrate through the porous membrane in the presence of CAFs or NOFs in the bottom chamber (P values were determined by 2-tailed Student’s t test). (G) CAFs increased the permeability of a confluent endothelial cell monolayer, and the permeability-enhancing effect of CAFs was attenuated in endothelial cells transfected with LPP-targeting siRNAs (P values were determined by 2-tailed Student’s t test). Fluorescence-labeled dextran was added to a confluent monolayer culture of endothelial cells in the upper chamber of a Boyden chamber and the amount of dextran diffusing through the endothelial cell monolayer culture in the presence of CAFs or NOFs to the lower chamber was measured by an ELISA microplate reader. All data represent the mean ± SEM of 3 independent experiments.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts