Mesenchymal stem cells promote metastasis through activation of an ABL-MMP9 signaling axis in lung cancer cells

als.fakia shared this article with you from Inoreader Mesenchymal stem cells promote metastasis through activation of an ABL-MMP9 signaling axis in lung cancer cells Via PLOS ONE Alerts: New Articles by Jing Jin Gu, Jacob Hoj, Clay Rouse, Ann Marie Pendergast Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recruited and activated by solid tumors and play a role in tumor progression and metastasis. Here we show that MSCs promote metastasis in a panel of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. MSCs elicit transcriptional alterations in lung cancer cells leading to increased expression of factors implicated in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and secreted proteins including matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9). MSCs enhance secretion of enzymatically active MMP9 in a panel of lung adenocarcinoma cells. High expression of MMP9 is linked to low survival rates in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Notably, we found that ABL tyrosine kinases are activated in MSC-primed lung cancer cells and functional ABL kinases are required for MSC-induced MMP9 expression, secretion and proteolytic activity. Importantly, ABL kinases are required for MSC-induced NSCLC metastasis. These data reveal an actionable target for inhibiting MSC-induced metastatic acti vity of lung adenocarcinoma cells through disruption of an ABL kinase-MMP9 signaling axis activated in MSC-primed lung cancer cells. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.