title: Cross-talk between mesenchyme and epithelium increases H19 gene expression during scattering and morphogenesis of epithelial cells.
abstract: The H19 gene is an imprinted gene expressed from the maternal allele. It is known to function as an RNA molecule. We previously reported that in breast adenocarcinoma, H19 is often overexpressed in stromal cells and preferentially located at the epithelium/stroma boundary, suggesting that epithelial/mesenchymal interactions can control H19 RNA expression. In some cases of breast adenocarcinoma with poor prognosis, H19 is overexpressed in epithelial cells. Therefore we examined whether mesenchymal factors can induce H19 expression in epithelial cells. Using quantitative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization, we found that when mammary epithelial cells were cultured in collagen gels, H19 expression was strongly up-regulated compared to when cells were cultured on plastic. Collagen gels allow three-dimensional growth of epithelial cells and morphogenetic responses to soluble factors. A conditioned medium from MRC-5 fibroblasts caused branching morphogenesis of HBL-100 cells and invasive growth of MDA-MB-231 cells, whereas MCF-7 cells were unresponsive. Induction of H19 expression correlated with morphological changes in HBL-100 and in MDA-MB-231 cells, whereas H19 expression was not induced in MCF-7 cells. Using a blocking antibody, HGF/SF was identified as the fibroblast-derived growth factor capable of inducing H19 expression and cell morphogenesis. We further demonstrated that H19 promoter activity was stimulated by various growth factors using transient transfection in MDCK epithelial cells. HGF/SF was more efficient than EGF or FGF-2 in transactivating the H19 promoter, whereas IGF-2, TGFbeta-1, and TNF-alpha were ineffective. This activation by HGF/SF was prevented by pharmacological inhibition of MAP kinase or of phospholipase C. We conclude that H19 is a target gene for HGF/SF, a known regulator of epithelial/mesenchymal interactions, and suggest that the up-regulation of H19 may be implicated in morphogenesis and/or migration of epithelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement, UPRES-EA 1033, Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, 59655, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adriaenssens
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lottin
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Berteaux
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hornez
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fauquette
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fafeur
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Peyrat
authors.forename: Xuefen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Le Bourhis
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hondermarck
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coll
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dugimont
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Curgy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001940:Breast / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002465:Cell Movement; D003094:Collagen / Q000494:pharmacology; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000494:pharmacology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004848:Epithelium / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000494:pharmacology; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D006133:Growth Substances; C094335:H19 long non-coding RNA; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D003094:Collagen