The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.

Brain-specific homing and direct interactions with the neural substance are prominent hypotheses for brain metastasis formation and a modern manifestation of Paget's "seed and soil" concept. However, there is little direct evidence for this "neurotropic" growth in vivo. In c...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: W Shawn Carbonell, Olaf Ansorge, Nicola Sibson, Ruth Muschel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2009-06-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2689678?pdf=render
_version_ 1818315987759398912
author W Shawn Carbonell
Olaf Ansorge
Nicola Sibson
Ruth Muschel
author_facet W Shawn Carbonell
Olaf Ansorge
Nicola Sibson
Ruth Muschel
author_sort W Shawn Carbonell
collection DOAJ
description Brain-specific homing and direct interactions with the neural substance are prominent hypotheses for brain metastasis formation and a modern manifestation of Paget's "seed and soil" concept. However, there is little direct evidence for this "neurotropic" growth in vivo. In contrast, many experimental studies have anecdotally noted the propensity of metastatic cells to grow along the exterior of pre-existing vessels of the CNS, a process termed vascular cooption. These observations suggest the "soil" for malignant cells in the CNS may well be vascular, rather than neuronal. We used in vivo experimental models of brain metastasis and analysis of human clinical specimens to test this hypothesis. Indeed, over 95% of early micrometastases examined demonstrated vascular cooption with little evidence for isolated neurotropic growth. This vessel interaction was adhesive in nature implicating the vascular basement membrane (VBM) as the active substrate for tumor cell growth in the brain. Accordingly, VBM promoted adhesion and invasion of malignant cells and was sufficient for tumor growth prior to any evidence of angiogenesis. Blockade or loss of the beta1 integrin subunit in tumor cells prevented adhesion to VBM and attenuated metastasis establishment and growth in vivo. Our data establishes a new understanding of CNS metastasis formation and identifies the neurovasculature as the critical partner for such growth. Further, we have elucidated the mechanism of vascular cooption for the first time. These findings may help inform the design of effective molecular therapies for patients with fatal CNS malignancies.
first_indexed 2024-12-13T09:14:16Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0a5ba2bfe0004c0a9a680f9653b461a4
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-13T09:14:16Z
publishDate 2009-06-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-0a5ba2bfe0004c0a9a680f9653b461a42022-12-21T23:52:52ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032009-06-0146e585710.1371/journal.pone.0005857The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.W Shawn CarbonellOlaf AnsorgeNicola SibsonRuth MuschelBrain-specific homing and direct interactions with the neural substance are prominent hypotheses for brain metastasis formation and a modern manifestation of Paget's "seed and soil" concept. However, there is little direct evidence for this "neurotropic" growth in vivo. In contrast, many experimental studies have anecdotally noted the propensity of metastatic cells to grow along the exterior of pre-existing vessels of the CNS, a process termed vascular cooption. These observations suggest the "soil" for malignant cells in the CNS may well be vascular, rather than neuronal. We used in vivo experimental models of brain metastasis and analysis of human clinical specimens to test this hypothesis. Indeed, over 95% of early micrometastases examined demonstrated vascular cooption with little evidence for isolated neurotropic growth. This vessel interaction was adhesive in nature implicating the vascular basement membrane (VBM) as the active substrate for tumor cell growth in the brain. Accordingly, VBM promoted adhesion and invasion of malignant cells and was sufficient for tumor growth prior to any evidence of angiogenesis. Blockade or loss of the beta1 integrin subunit in tumor cells prevented adhesion to VBM and attenuated metastasis establishment and growth in vivo. Our data establishes a new understanding of CNS metastasis formation and identifies the neurovasculature as the critical partner for such growth. Further, we have elucidated the mechanism of vascular cooption for the first time. These findings may help inform the design of effective molecular therapies for patients with fatal CNS malignancies.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2689678?pdf=render
spellingShingle W Shawn Carbonell
Olaf Ansorge
Nicola Sibson
Ruth Muschel
The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
PLoS ONE
title The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
title_full The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
title_fullStr The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
title_full_unstemmed The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
title_short The vascular basement membrane as "soil" in brain metastasis.
title_sort vascular basement membrane as soil in brain metastasis
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2689678?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT wshawncarbonell thevascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT olafansorge thevascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT nicolasibson thevascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT ruthmuschel thevascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT wshawncarbonell vascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT olafansorge vascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT nicolasibson vascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis
AT ruthmuschel vascularbasementmembraneassoilinbrainmetastasis