TY - JOUR
T1 - ADAM17-mediated EGFR ligand shedding directs macrophage promoted cancer cell invasion
AU - Gnosa, Sebastian
AU - Puig-Blasco, Laia
AU - Piotrowski, Krzysztof B
AU - Freiberg, Marie L
AU - Savickas, Simonas
AU - Madsen, Daniel H
AU - Keller, Ulrich auf dem
AU - Kronqvist, Pauliina
AU - Kveiborg, Marie
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Macrophages in the tumor microenvironment have a significant impact on tumor progression. Depending on the signaling environment in the tumor, macrophages can either support or constrain tumor progression. It is therefore of therapeutic interest to identify the tumor-derived factors that control macrophage education. With this aim, we correlated the expression of ADAM proteases, which are key mediators of cell-cell signaling, to the expression of pro-tumorigenic macrophage markers in human cancer cohorts. We identified ADAM17, a sheddase upregulated in many cancer types, as a protein of interest. Depletion of ADAM17 in cancer cell lines reduced the expression of several pro-tumorigenic markers in neighboring macrophages in vitro as well as in mouse models. Moreover, ADAM17-/- educated macrophages demonstrated a reduced ability to induce cancer cell invasion. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics and ELISA, we identified HB-EGF and AREG, shed by ADAM17 in the cancer cells, as the implicated molecular mediators of macrophage education. Additionally, RNA-seq and ELISA experiments revealed that ADAM17-dependent HB-EGF-ligand release induces the expression and secretion of CXCL chemokines in macrophages, which in turn stimulates cancer cell invasion.In conclusion, we provide evidence that ADAM17 mediates a paracrine EGFR-ligand-chemokine feedback loop, whereby cancer cells hijack macrophages to promote tumor progression.
AB - Macrophages in the tumor microenvironment have a significant impact on tumor progression. Depending on the signaling environment in the tumor, macrophages can either support or constrain tumor progression. It is therefore of therapeutic interest to identify the tumor-derived factors that control macrophage education. With this aim, we correlated the expression of ADAM proteases, which are key mediators of cell-cell signaling, to the expression of pro-tumorigenic macrophage markers in human cancer cohorts. We identified ADAM17, a sheddase upregulated in many cancer types, as a protein of interest. Depletion of ADAM17 in cancer cell lines reduced the expression of several pro-tumorigenic markers in neighboring macrophages in vitro as well as in mouse models. Moreover, ADAM17-/- educated macrophages demonstrated a reduced ability to induce cancer cell invasion. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics and ELISA, we identified HB-EGF and AREG, shed by ADAM17 in the cancer cells, as the implicated molecular mediators of macrophage education. Additionally, RNA-seq and ELISA experiments revealed that ADAM17-dependent HB-EGF-ligand release induces the expression and secretion of CXCL chemokines in macrophages, which in turn stimulates cancer cell invasion.In conclusion, we provide evidence that ADAM17 mediates a paracrine EGFR-ligand-chemokine feedback loop, whereby cancer cells hijack macrophages to promote tumor progression.
U2 - 10.1172/jci.insight.155296
DO - 10.1172/jci.insight.155296
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35998057
VL - 7
JO - JCI Insight
JF - JCI Insight
SN - 2379-3708
IS - 18
M1 - e155296
ER -