Sulfated glycosaminoglycans enhance tumor cell invasion in vitro by stimulating plasminogen activation.
Metastasizing tumor cells invade host tissues by degrading extracellular matrix constituents. We report here that the highly sulfated glycosaminoglycans, heparin and heparan sulfate, as well as the sulfated polysaccharide, fucoidan, significantly enhanced tumor cell invasion in vitro into fibrin, the basement membrane extract, Matrigel, or through a basement membrane-like extracellular matrix. The enhancement of tumor cell invasion was due to a stimulation of the proteolytic cascade of plasminogen activation since the effect required plasminogen activation and was abolished by inhibitors of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) or plasmin. Sulfated polysaccharides enhanced five reactions of tumor-cell initiated plasminogen activation in a dose-dependent manner. They amplified plasminogen activation in culture supernatants up to 70-fold by stimulating (i) pro-uPA activation by plasmin and (ii) plasminogen activation by uPA. (iii) In addition, sulfated polysaccharides partially protected plasmin from inactivation by alpha 2-antiplasmin. Sulfated polysaccharides also stimulated tumor-cell associated plasminogen activation, e.g., (iv) cell surface pro-uPA activation by plasmin and (v) plasminogen activation by cell surface uPA. These results suggest that sulfated glycosaminoglycans liberated by tumor-cell mediated extracellular matrix degradation in vivo might amplify pericellular plasminogen activation and locally enhance tumor cell invasion in a positive feedback manner.
Brunner
G
G
Division of Cellular Immunology, German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany. Georg.Brunner@man.ac.uk
Reimbold
K
K
Meissauer
A
A
Schirrmacher
V
V
Erkell
L J
LJ
D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D003094:Collagen; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000494:pharmacology; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D005109:Extracellular Matrix; D005337:Fibrin; D005341:Fibrinolysin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006493:Heparin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006497:Heparan Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007797:Laminin; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010958:Plasminogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011509:Proteoglycans; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D003094:Collagen; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005337:Fibrin; D005341:Fibrinolysin; D006493:Heparin; D006497:Heparan Sulfate; D007797:Laminin; D010958:Plasminogen; D011134:Polysaccharides; D011509:Proteoglycans; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator; C059485:matrigel; C007789:fucoidan