batimastat and Colonic-Neoplasms

Migration of tumor cells is usually assessed as single cell locomotion in vitro using Boyden chamber type assays. In vivo, however, carcinoma cells frequently invade the surrounding tissue as coherent clusters or nests of cells. We have called this type of movement "cohort migration" and developed a two-dimensional in vitro cohort migration model, in which human rectal well-differentiated adenocarcinoma cells (L-10) migrate from piled-up cell islands as coherent sheets of cells when stimulated with hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor. In this study, we examined whether there is a cohort migration-specific way of expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and whether degradation of extracellular matrix is necessary for this type of migration. Production of membrane-type 1-MMP (MT1-MMP) and gelatinase A (MMP-2) by L-10 cells was demonstrated by gelatin zymography, immunoblotting, and reverse transcription-PCR. When cohort migration was induced with hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor, MT1-MMP and MMP-2 were immunolocalized predominantly in the leading edges of the front cells of migrating cell sheets, with the following cells being negative. In addition, during the cohort migration on gelatin-coated substratum, the gelatin matrix was degraded by the cells, in a very organized manner, causing radially arrayed lysis of gelatin matrix at the sites of leading edges. BB94, a synthetic inhibitor specific to MMPs, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 and -2, and the COOH-terminal hemopexin-like domain of MMP-2 inhibited the migration on gelatin matrix. Thus, these data demonstrate that gelatin matrix is reorganized to suit cell migration via leading-edge-of-front-cell-specific localization of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 during cohort migration and suggest that the reorganization is essential for this type of migration.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Cell Movement; Colonic Neoplasms; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Hepatocyte Growth Factor; Humans; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; Metalloendopeptidases; Phenylalanine; Protease Inhibitors; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger; Thiophenes; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2; Transcription, Genetic; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are enzymes responsible for extracellular matrix degradation which play a role in cancer progression and metastatic spreading. We investigated the effects of the MMP inhibitor, batimastat, in vitro on the proliferation and invasiveness of the rat colon cancer cell line DHD/K12, and in vivo on the growth of an aggressive model of peritoneal carcinomatosis producing haemorrhagic ascites and metastases, obtained in the rat by i.p. injection of DHD/K12 cells. MMP production was studied in conditioned culture media, solid tumors and ascitic fluid. In vivo, after injection of tumor cells on day 0, rats received i.p. daily either batimastat (30 mg/kg) or equal volume of vehicle from day 2 until killing on day 43 (series I) or from day 13 until death (series II). The grade of peritoneal carcinomatosis, ascite volume, number and size of liver metastases were evaluated in both series, and survival in series II. MMPs-1, -2 and -9 were identified in culture media, tumors and ascites. In vitro, batimastat did not modify DHD/K12 cell proliferation and slightly reduced cell invasion. In vivo, in series I, batimastat treatment totally prevented peritoneal carcinomatosis and liver metastasis development. In series II, it significantly prolonged survival (P < 0.0002) and reduced peritoneal carcinomatosis (P < 0.001) and hepatic metastases number as compared with controls. However, batimastat-treated rats of the two series had peritoneal inflammation with marked ascites. Nevertheless, inhibition of MMP is a new therapeutic approach which may be promising in treatment of microtumors as in more advanced cancer stages.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Carcinoma; Collagenases; Colonic Neoplasms; Female; Gelatinases; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9; Metalloendopeptidases; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Proteins; Peritoneal Neoplasms; Phenylalanine; Rats; Thiophenes; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors represent a new therapeutic approach to the treatment of advanced cancer. These inhibitors block the activity of proteolytic enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases, used by tumor cells to break down and remodel tissue matrices during the process of metastatic spread. As such they were regarded initially as inhibitors of metastasis. However, recent studies have shown that these inhibitors can also act to inhibit tumor growth by (i) preventing local invasion and promoting stromal encapsulation and (ii) by inhibiting tumor neovascularization. Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors therefore have the potential to halt tumor progression and it is possible to envision their use as a low toxicity complement to cytotoxic therapies. Batimastat (BB-94) is the first inhibitor of this class to enter clinical trial in cancer patients. In a phase I/II trial in patients with malignant ascites batimastat was well tolerated and there were preliminary signs of efficacy.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Colonic Neoplasms; Female; Humans; Melanoma, Experimental; Metalloendopeptidases; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasms; Ovarian Neoplasms; Phenylalanine; Protease Inhibitors; Thiophenes

Matrix metalloproteinases have been implicated in the growth and spread of metastatic tumors. This role was investigated in an orthotopic transplant model of human colon cancer in nude mice using the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor BB-94 (batimastat). Fragments of human colon carcinoma (1-1.5 mm) were surgically implanted orthotopically on the colon in 40 athymic nu/nu mice. Administration of BB-94 or vehicle (phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4, containing 0.01% Tween 80) commenced 7 days after tumor implantation (20 animals/group). Animals received 30 mg/kg BB-94 i.p. once daily for the first 60 days and then 3 times weekly. Treatment with BB-94 caused a reduction in the median weight of the primary tumor from 293 mg in the control group to 144 mg in the BB-94 treated group (P < 0.001). BB-94 treatment also reduced the incidence of local and regional invasion, from 12 of 18 mice in the control group (67%) to 7 of 20 mice in the treated group (35%). Six mice in the control group were also found to have metastases in the liver, lung, peritoneum, abdominal wall, or local lymph nodes. Only two mice in the BB-94 group had evidence of metastatic disease, in both cases confined to the abdominal wall. The reduction in tumor progression observed in the BB-94-treated group translated into an improvement in the survival of this group, from a median survival time of 110 days in the control group to a median survival time of 140 days in the treated group (P < 0.01). Treatment with BB-94 was not associated with any obvious toxic effect, and these results suggest that such agents may be effective as adjunctive cancer therapies.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous; Animals; Colonic Neoplasms; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Female; Humans; Male; Metalloendopeptidases; Mice; Mice, Nude; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Transplantation; Phenylalanine; Thiophenes; Transplantation, Heterologous