Potential role of CXCL9 induced by endothelial cells/CD133+ liver cancer cells co-culture system in tumor transendothelial migration
Qiang Ding1, Yujia Xia1, Shuping Ding1, Panpan Lu1, Liang Sun2, Yuhui Fan1, Xin Li1, Ying Wang1, De-an Tian1, Mei Liu1
1 Institute of Liver Diseases, Department of Gastroenterology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
2 Department of Gastroenterology, the Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Correspondence:
Mei Liu, email:
Keywords: CD133+ liver cancer cells, HUVEC, co-culture system, CXCL9
Received: July 03, 2016 Accepted: September 02, 2016 Published: September 07, 2016
Abstract
Transendothelial migration is a pivotal step before the dissemination of tumor cells into the blood circulation. Related researches about the crosstalk between tumor cells and endothelial cells could contribute to understanding the mechanism of transendothelial migration. Cumulative studies showed that CD133 was an important marker for cancer stem cells. In our research, a co-culture system was developed to study the interaction between CD133+ liver cancer cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The results showed that the direct co-cultured supernatants promoted the migration and invasion of CD133+ liver cancer cells. It was further investigated that the expression level of chemokine CXCL9 was significantly elevated in the culture supernatants of direct co-culture system by activating the NF-kB, rather than in the indirect co-culture system or mono-culture system. High expression of CXCL9 in the direct co-cultured supernatants played a significant role in enhancing the migration and invasion of CD133+ liver cancer cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that chemokine CXCL9 may function as a potential target during the process of transendothelial migration.
