Modification of the Tumor Microenvironment in KRAS or c-MYC-Induced Ovarian Cancer-Associated Peritonitis

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 2;11(8):e0160330. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160330. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The most common properties of oncogenes are cell proliferation and the prevention of apoptosis in malignant cells, which, as a consequence, induce tumor formation and dissemination. However, the effects of oncogenes on the tumor microenvironment (TME) have not yet been examined in detail. The accumulation of ascites accompanied by chronic inflammation and elevated concentrations of VEGF is a hallmark of the progression of ovarian cancer. We herein demonstrated the mechanisms by which oncogenes contribute to modulating the ovarian cancer microenvironment. c-MYC and KRAS were transduced into the mouse ovarian cancer cell line ID8. ID8, ID8-c-MYC, or ID8-KRAS cells were then injected into the peritoneal cavities of C57/BL6 mice and the production of ascites was assessed. ID8-c-MYC and ID8-KRAS both markedly accelerated ovarian cancer progression in vivo, whereas no significant differences were observed in proliferative activity in vitro. ID8-KRAS in particular induced the production of ascites, which accumulated between approximately two to three weeks after the injection, more rapidly than ID8 and ID8-c-MYC (between nine and ten weeks and between six and seven weeks, respectively). VEGF concentrations in ascites significantly increased in c-MYC-induced ovarian cancer, whereas the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in ascites were significantly high in KRAS-induced ovarian cancer and were accompanied by an increased number of neutrophils in ascites. A cytokine array revealed that KRAS markedly induced the expression of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in ID8 cells. These results suggest that oncogenes promote cancer progression by modulating the TME in favor of cancer progression.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ascites / genetics*
  • Ascites / metabolism
  • Ascites / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / genetics
  • Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • Peritonitis / genetics*
  • Peritonitis / metabolism
  • Peritonitis / pathology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / genetics*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / genetics*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Time Factors
  • Transduction, Genetic
  • Tumor Microenvironment / genetics*
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / genetics
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / metabolism

Substances

  • Myc protein, mouse
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • vascular endothelial growth factor A, mouse
  • Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
  • Hras protein, mouse
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)

Grants and funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant number 26293357 (15H06172 and 26870148). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.