Probing the interaction forces of prostate cancer cells with collagen I and bone marrow derived stem cells on the single cell level

PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e57706. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057706. Epub 2013 Mar 5.

Abstract

Adhesion of metastasizing prostate carcinoma cells was quantified for two carcinoma model cell lines LNCaP (lymph node-specific) and PC3 (bone marrow-specific). By time-lapse microscopy and force spectroscopy we found PC3 cells to preferentially adhere to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (SCP1 cell line). Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) based force spectroscopy, the mechanical pattern of the adhesion to SCP1 cells was characterized for both prostate cancer cell lines and compared to a substrate consisting of pure collagen type I. PC3 cells dissipated more energy (27.6 aJ) during the forced de-adhesion AFM experiments and showed significantly more adhesive and stronger bonds compared to LNCaP cells (20.1 aJ). The characteristic signatures of the detachment force traces revealed that, in contrast to the LNCaP cells, PC3 cells seem to utilize their filopodia in addition to establish adhesive bonds. Taken together, our study clearly demonstrates that PC3 cells have a superior adhesive affinity to bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, compared to LNCaP. Semi-quantitative PCR on both prostate carcinoma cell lines revealed the expression of two Col-I binding integrin receptors, α1β1 and α2β1 in PC3 cells, suggesting their possible involvement in the specific interaction to the substrates. Further understanding of the exact mechanisms behind this phenomenon might lead to optimized therapeutic applications targeting the metastatic behavior of certain prostate cancer cells towards bone tissue.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bone Marrow Cells / cytology*
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Coculture Techniques
  • Collagen Type I / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Integrins / metabolism
  • Male
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Polystyrenes / chemistry
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Pseudopodia / metabolism

Substances

  • Collagen Type I
  • Integrins
  • Polystyrenes

Grants and funding

Funding provided by the Ministry of national Education of Turkey (http://egitek.meb.gov.tr), German Excellence Initiative via the “Nanosystems Initiative Munich” (http://www.nano-initiative-munich.de/de/research-areas/) and the German research foundation (http://www.dfg.de/gefoerderte_projekte/informationssysteme/index.jsp). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.