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Three-dimensional culture system identifies a new mode of cetuximab resistance and disease-relevant genes in colorectal cancer.

Li C, Singh B, Graves-Deal R, Ma H, Starchenko A, Fry WH, Lu Y, Wang Y, Bogatcheva G, Khan MP, Milne GL, Zhao S, Ayers GD, Li N, Hu H, Washington MK, Yeatman TJ, McDonald OG, Liu Q, Coffey RJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 114 (14): E2852-E2861

PMID: 28320945 · PMCID: PMC5389279 · DOI:10.1073/pnas.1618297114

We previously reported that single cells from a human colorectal cancer (CRC) cell line (HCA-7) formed either hollow single-layered polarized cysts or solid spiky masses when plated in 3D in type-I collagen. To begin in-depth analyses into whether clonal cysts and spiky masses possessed divergent properties, individual colonies of each morphology were isolated and expanded. The lines thus derived faithfully retained their parental cystic and spiky morphologies and were termed CC (cystic) and SC (spiky), respectively. Although both CC and SC expressed EGF receptor (EGFR), the EGFR-neutralizing monoclonal antibody, cetuximab, strongly inhibited growth of CC, whereas SC was resistant to growth inhibition, and this was coupled to increased tyrosine phosphorylation of MET and RON. Addition of the dual MET/RON tyrosine kinase inhibitor, crizotinib, restored cetuximab sensitivity in SC. To further characterize these two lines, we performed comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic analysis of CC and SC in 3D. One of the most up-regulated genes in CC was the tumor suppressor , and the most up-regulated gene in SC was () in 3D and xenografts. Analysis of a CRC tissue microarray showed that epithelial, but not stromal, VCAN staining strongly correlated with reduced survival, and combined epithelial VCAN and absent HPGD staining portended a poorer prognosis. Thus, with this 3D system, we have identified a mode of cetuximab resistance and a potential prognostic marker in CRC. As such, this represents a potentially powerful system to identify additional therapeutic strategies and disease-relevant genes in CRC and possibly other solid tumors.

MeSH Terms (22)

Animals Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological Cell Culture Techniques Cell Line, Tumor Cetuximab Colorectal Neoplasms Crizotinib Drug Resistance, Neoplasm Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic Humans Hydroxyprostaglandin Dehydrogenases Mice Phosphorylation Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt Pyrazoles Pyridines Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta Tissue Array Analysis Versicans Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

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