title: Profiling bladder cancer organ site-specific metastasis identifies LAMC2 as a novel biomarker of hematogenous dissemination.
abstract: Little is known about which genes mediate metastasis in bladder cancer, which accounts for much of the mortality of this disease. We used human bladder cancer cell lines to develop models of two clinically common metastatic sites, lung and liver, and evaluated their gene expression with respect to human tumor tissues. Parental cells were injected into either the murine spleen to generate liver metastases or tail vein to generate lung metastases with sequential progeny derived by re-injection and comparisons made of their organ-specific nature by crossed-site injections. Both genomic and transcriptomic analyses of organ-selected cell lines found salient differences and shared core metastatic profiles, which were then screened against gene expression data from human tumors. The expression levels of laminin V gamma 2 (LAMC2) contained in the core metastatic signature were increased as a function of human tumor stage, and its genomic location was in an area of gain as measured by comparative genomic hybridization. Using immunohistochemistry in a human bladder cancer tissue microarray, LAMC2 expression levels were associated with tumor grade, but inversely with nodal status. In contrast, in node-negative patients, LAMC2 expression was associated with visceral metastatic recurrence. In summary, LAMC2 is a novel biomarker of bladder cancer metastasis that reflects the propensity of cells to metastasize via either lymphatic or hematogenous routes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Steven Christopher
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nitz
authors.forename: Henry F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Frierson
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smolkin
authors.forename: Garret
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.forename: Wael
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: El-Rifai
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Theodorescu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007797:Laminin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C400567:LAMC2 protein, human; D007797:Laminin