F806 Suppresses the Invasion and Metastasis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma via Downregulating F-Actin Assembly-Related Rho Family Proteins.

Invasion and metastasis are critical pathological and mortal processes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Novel drugs, targeting the two cancer migration stages, will augment the treatment options for ESCC therapy and improve overall survival. A novel natural macrolide F806 specifically promotes apoptosis of various ESCC cells. However, whether F806 can inhibit metastasis of ESCC cells needs further evaluation. Here, our data showed that F806 inhibits dynamic F-actin assembly and then suppresses the migration of ESCC cells in vitro and their invasion and metastasis in vivo. The correlation between cancer migration and actin cytoskeleton assembly was consistent with the ability of F806 to prevent the aggregation of Paxillin, an essential protein for focal adhesion formation through binding to the ends of actin filaments. Furthermore, F806 downregulated the expression and activity of the Rho family proteins cell division cycle 42 (CDC42), RAC family small GTPase 1 (RAC1), and RAS homolog family member A (RHOA). Taken together, these results suggest that F806 can suppress cancer invasion and metastasis via interrupting the assembly of migration components involving F-actin.

1. Introduction

Esophageal cancer (EC) has the characteristics of rapid progression, poor prognosis, and poor survival, which make it the eighth most common and sixth most fatal cancer worldwide [1, 2]. The esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of two major histological subtypes of EC and accounts for more than 90% of EC cases [3-5]. ESCC is usually diagnosed at advanced stages and the 5-year overall survival rate of the patients with metastatic disease is less than 10% [6, 7], which partly results from the insufficient drugs that target ESCC metastasis. Therefore, it is vital to identify drugs capable of targeting metastatic ESCC and to study their mechanism in ESCC therapy.

Cancer metastasis, composed of a series of multistep and multistage processes, is the principal cause of fatality for patients with drug-resistant tumor cells and is responsible for most cancer deaths [8]. ESCC metastasis requires cells to access invasive and migratory processes, which are initiated by the dynamic assembly of actin cytoskeleton into filopodia and microspike structures [9]. The actin cytoskeleton regulatory proteins, such as Fascin and Ezrin, play crucial roles in the promotion of ESCC cell metastasis through increasing filopodia formation [10, 11]. It can be said that the dynamic regulation of actin cytoskeleton and the action of its regulatory proteins are still worthy of study, especially in the context of target drug treatment for metastatic ESCC patients.

Our previous research suggested that the novel macrolide analog F806 has higher selectivity and sensitivity for the apoptosis of ESCC cells than that of normal cells ([12] and Supplementary Figure S1), making it a possible candidate target drug. However, it is not clear whether F806 has pharmacological functions to inhibit the invasion and metastasis of ESCC cells. F806 can downregulate expression of integrin beta 1 (ITGB1) and growth factor receptor bound protein 2 (GRB2), resulting in ESCC cell apoptosis [12, 13]. The studies showed that ITGB1- and GRB2-assosiated signaling pathways not only take part in proliferation regulation and the induction of different signaling cascades but also extensively participate in the promotion of cancer cell migration-related processes [14]. Integrins coupled to the actin cytoskeleton via the cytoskeleton-binding proteins including GRB2 and Paxillin then develop into the focal complex to form a focal adhesion [15-17], which adhere to or slowly glide along the substrate as the cell moves via the dynamic assembly [18, 19]. Therefore, we hypothesized that F806 may have a new function of disrupting the actin cytoskeleton assembly and focal adhesion, leading to inhibition of cancer cell metastasis. To prove this hypothesis, we firstly characterize the pharmacological function of F806 in inhibiting ESCC migration and metastasis in vitro and in vivo and then display an antimetastasis mechanism of F806 in this study.

2. Material and Methods

2.1. Chemicals and Cell Lines

F806 (purity ≥ 98.5%) was discovered and provided by Fujian Institute of Microbiology, China [12, 13]. Cell lines used in this study were previously described [20]. EC109 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) and KYSE510 cells were maintained in RPMI 1640 medium (Thermo Fisher Scientific) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (GIBCO) and containing 100 U/mL penicillin G and streptomycin. Cells were routinely cultured at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2.

2.2. Cell Migration Assay

The effect of F806 treatment on the migration of ESCC cells was evaluated using a modified Boyden chamber migration assay [11]. Briefly, ESCC cells (5×104 cells/well) were cultured in serum-free RPMI 1640 medium with F806 (a final concentration of 20 μM) in the top chambers of 24-well transwell plates (Corning Costar, Cambridge, MA). And the lower chambers were filled with RPMI 1640 medium with 10% FBS. After 24 hrs, cells migrating to the underside of the top chamber were stained with crystal violet in 2% ethanol and quantified by counting 10 random fields under a light microscope (200×). Data obtained from 3 separate chambers are shown as mean values. Experiments were repeated twice with similar results.

2.3. Regional Lymph Node Metastasis in Nude Mice

The experimental metastasis in nude mice was performed as described previously [21]. Five-week-old male nude mice were purchased from Vital River Laboratories (Beijing, China). All animal studies were conducted in accordance with protocols approved by the Animal Research Committee of the Shantou Administration Center and the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Twenty-one mice were equally divided into three groups at random. A suspension of 1.0×106 KYSE510 cells in 100 μl serum-free 1640 medium was inoculated subcutaneously into the left hind footpad of each mouse on Day 0. The growth of footpad tumors was monitored daily, and tumor size was measured every three days, and inguinal lymph nodes were palpated at the same time. On Day 7 after tumor cell injection, the footpad tumors were palpable and the average size was around 25 mm3, and drug administration was initiated. Briefly, a 100 mg/ml F806 stock solution prepared in 100% ethyl alcohol was diluted in 0.9% NaCl containing 5% Tween-80 and 5% polyethylene glycol-400 (Sigma, St Louis MO, USA) to give a dose of 4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg, in 200 μL solutions, which was intraperitoneally administered daily for 21 days. Mice were euthanized on Day 28 and inguinal lymph nodes were excised and preserved in formalin for histological analysis by hematoxylin-eosin (HE).

2.4. Flow Cytometry Analysis

Cells treated with F806 for 24 hrs were harvested and fixed with 70% cold ethanol in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 4°C overnight. Subsequently, the samples were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 in PBS and stained with a solution containing 5 μg/mL phalloidin-FITC at 4°C overnight in the dark. After washing, the samples were immediately analyzed by flow cytometry using a Coulter Epics XL flow cytometer (Beckman-Coulter Inc, Brea, CA, USA).

2.5. Immunofluorescence and Live Imaging

Immunofluorescence staining was performed as previously described [10]. Briefly, cells grown on coverslips in 24-well plate were treated with F806 (20 μM) for 24 hrs. Then, cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 20 minutes and permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 for 10 minutes. Cells stained with phalloidin-FITC (5 μg/mL) were analyzed using an Olympus FV1000 confocal microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan).

Live imaging was performed as previously described [11]. Briefly, KYSE510 cells were transiently transfected with actin expression gene vectors (LifeAct-RFP) for 24 hrs. The cells were planted on imaging chamber with 10 μg/ml fibronectin-coated for 24 hrs and then were supplemented with a final concentration of 20 μM F806 and incubated at 37°C on a heated stage 30 minutes later, live-cell imaging began, and the behavior of actin in cell filopodia was visualized for 2 hrs using a confocal microscope (LSM880, Carl Zeiss MicroImaging, Inc.) with a 40×, 1.43 NA lens.

2.6. Analysis of G/F-Actin Ratio

The ratio of G-actin to F-actin was determined using the G/F-actin in vivo assay kit (Cytoskeleton, Inc., Denver, CO, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, after the treatment with or without F806 (20 μM) for 24 hrs, cells were homogenized in lysis buffer and F-actin stabilization buffers, followed by centrifugation for 1 hr at 100,000 ×g at 37°C to pellet F-actin. The supernatants containing G-actin were collected, and the pellets containing F-actin were resuspended in F-actin depolymerizing solution. Western blots were performed as described previously [22]. Appropriate antiactin (sc-47778) and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 1:5000).

2.7. Rho GTPase Activation and Expression Assay

After the treatment with F806 (20 μM) for 24 hrs, cells were homogenized. Pull-down of the guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound form of Rho family GTPases was performed using RHOA and CDC42/RAC1 activation assay kits (Cytoskeleton) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. For Rho GTPase expression assay, the ESCC cells were transfected by flag-RAC1 and flag-RHOA plasmid, after 24 hrs, pretreated with MG132 (20 μM) for 1 hr, and then jointly treated with F806 (20 μM) for another 24 hrs. Total cell lysates were lysed on ice in RIPA buffer containing 1× complete protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche) and sonicated. Western blots were performed as described previously [22].

2.8. Statistical Analyses

Data analysis was performed using SPSS 13.0 software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A two-way ANOVA or Student's t test was used to determine the significance of differences between groups, and a P < 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Data were plotted as mean ± SD or mean ± SEM, of at least three independent experiments, using GraphPad Prism 5 software (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA).

3. Results

3.1. F806 Suppresses the Migration of EC109 and KYSE510 Cells In Vitro and Their Invasion and Metastasis In Vivo

The potential of F806 to inhibit the migration of EC109 and KYSE510 cells was initially examined in a transwell cell migration assay. F806 (20 μM) reduced the number of cell colonies on the bottom surface of the chamber (Figure 1(a)). Cell migration was reduced by about 52% and 66% in F806-treated EC109 and KYSE510 cells, respectively (Figure 1(b)). The results indicated that the migration of ESCC cells in vitro was clearly suppressed by F806.

Figure 1

F806 inhibits migration of ESCC cells in vitro. (a) The migration of EC109 and KYSE510 cells was characterized by transwell assay in control and F806-treated groups in vitro. (b) Relative invasion ratios of migrated cell colonies were, respectively, counted in each group. Data represent three independent experiments. Data are mean ± SD and ∗∗∗ P < 0.05, compared to the control group, n=3.

KYSE510 cells were injected into the footpads of mice, then F806 treatment began on Day 7, and tumor size was measured on Day 28 (Figures 2(a) and 2(b)). Tumor size was reduced by about 53% or 31% following administration of 4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg F806, respectively (Figure 2(c)). The data from the corresponding groups showed that the ratio of lymph node metastasis was reduced by about 34% or 46% (Figure 2(d)). Similarly, HE stain suggested that the infiltrating cancer cells were distinctly reduced by F806 in the inguinal lymph node area of mice (Figure 2(e)). Therefore, the conclusion is that F806 can markedly inhibit the migration of ESCC cells in vitro and their invasion and metastasis in vivo.

Figure 2

F806 suppresses the invasion and metastasis of ESCC cells in vivo. (a) The regional lymph node metastasis models of ESCC xenograft. (b) The growth curves of tumor volume were plotted in control and treated groups of xenograft models. (c) The volume percentage of tumors from the xenograft models in control and F806-treated mice. (d) Representative hematoxylin-eosin staining of lymph node metastasis sections from the inguinal regions. (e) The lymph node metastasis ratio from the inguinal regions. Scale bar = 50 μm. Data are mean ± SD, ∗ P < 0.05; ∗∗ P<0.01; ∗∗∗ P<0.001, compared to the control group; n=7. F-4: 4 mg/kg F806; F-8: 8 mg/kg F806.

3.2. Regulation of F806 on Actin Cytoskeleton Rearrangement

Previous reports showed that F806 can downregulate expression of ITGB1 and GRB2 proteins that participate in the connection of actin fibers to plasma membrane, in ESCC cell lines [12, 13]. Therefore, we examined whether the inhibitory effect of F806 on ESCC invasion and metastasis was correlated with alterations in F-actin rearrangement. To do this, we used flow cytometry to measure the effects of F806 on the transformation of G-actin to F-action. We found that fluorescence intensity was dramatically altered by F806 in accordance with the distinction of fluorescence intensity between G-actin and F-actin (Figure 3(a)). At the cell level, actin assembly was inhibited by F806, resulting in a significant reduction in the number and length of stress fibers and filopodia after the treatment with F806 (20 μM) for 24 hrs (Figure 3(b)) and after the treatment with F806 (20 μM) for 30 minutes, when the behavior of actin assembly was visualized for following 2 hrs using the live imaging system in a confocal microscope (Figure 3(c) and Supplementary video). At the molecular level, the data indicated that F806 reduced the level of F-actin, suggesting that formation of actin filaments, from G-actin, was suppressed by F806 (Figure 3(d)).

Figure 3

F806 induces rearrangement of the F-actin cytoskeleton of ECCC cells. (a) The fluorescence value of F-actin (grey peak) and G-actin (white peak) was measured by flow cytometry in F806-treated or control EC109 cells. Data are mean ± SD and ∗∗ P<0.01, compared to the control group; n = 6. (b) EC109 and KYSE510 cells stained with phalloidin were analyzed using an Olympus FV1000 confocal microscope. Scale bar = 10 μm. (c) Exogenous RFP-actin-forming filopodia in KYSE510 cells were visualized and recorded by a confocal microscope with a 40×, 1.43 NA lens, Plan-Apochromat oil objective. (d) The G-actin/F-actin ratio was determined by a G/F-actin in vivo assay kit. C: control; F: F806; T: total protein; S: supernatant; P: pellet.

3.3. Effects of F806 on Expression and Activity of the Rho Family Proteins

Rho family proteins, CDC42, RHOA, and RAC1, are involved in the upstream regulation of actin filament formation [23], so we tested the effect of F806 on CDC42, RHOA, and RAC1 protein expression. We found that their expression was reduced by F806 treatment in both EC109 and KYSE510 cells (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). Importantly, the activity form of CDC42 (CDC42-GTP) also decreased in the F806 treatment group compared to the control group. In order to investigate the reasons of downregulation of Rho family proteins, we pretreated the cells with MG132, a proteasome inhibitor, and then added F806. Western blots showed that F806 lost the ability to reduce Rho family proteins after treatment with MG132, suggesting that F806 inhibited the activity of Rho family proteins by regulating proteasome activity. Furthermore, since Rho family proteins regulate the attachment of actin cytoskeleton to focal adhesion [24] and Paxillin is one of the key focal adhesion-associated proteins [25], we evaluated the actin assembly by detecting the location of Paxillin. The results suggested that F806 interfered with Paxillin aggregation at the ends of actin filaments (Figure 4(d)). Thus, we conclude that F806 suppresses the assembly of actin filaments and their linkage to Paxillin via inhibiting the expression of Rho family.

Figure 4

The inhibition of F806 on expression and activity of CDC42, RHOA, and RAC1. (a) Activity and expression analysis of CDC42 were detected by a Rho GTPase activation assay kit. (b) The expression of RHOA and RAC1 was detected by Western blot. (c) Western blots analysis of flag-RHOA and flag-RAC1 expression in ESCC cells after pretreatment with MG132 and then added F806. (d) The colocalization of actin filament and focal adhesion marker Paxillin was analyzed by immunofluorescent staining in EC109 and KYSE510 cells. Scale bar = 10 μm.

4. Discussion

Due to the difficulty in identifying lead compounds with therapeutic efficacy and low toxicity and also the fact that pharmacological study of ESCC has been relatively ignored, the target drugs for ESCC are scarce. Therefore, it is of crucial importance for metastatic ESCC therapy to find novel target compounds selectively suppressing ESCC tumorigenicity. We previously showed that F806 displays greater specificity and stronger lethality toward ESCC cells [12], but not for normal immortalized epithelia cells (Supplementary Figure 1). Therefore, we extended our study of F806 to explore its suppressive mechanisms for various ESCC processes.

Our previous studies showed that F806 suppresses cancer progression; though it downregulates the protein expression of actin cytoskeleton linkers ITGB1 and GRB2 [12, 13], proteins are involved in the formation of focal adhesions, which implies F806 can control dynamic changes of the cytoskeleton. We determined whether F806 could take part in the regulation of actin assembly and cancer metastasis by analyzing the function of F806-downregulating proteins in the above two biological processes [24, 26–28]. Nevertheless, we have previously paid close attention to the therapeutic efficacy of F806 for ESCC survival and growth [12, 13, 29, 30], but its regulation for ESCC migration processes had yet to be explored. Our results firstly suggest that F806, as a potential candidate compound, suppresses ESCC migration in vitro and in vivo (Figures 1 and 2). Thus, the current study advances ESCC target drug development.

Because F806 may have pleiotropic effects on inhibiting ESCC development, it needs to be further confirmed that the inhibitory effect of F806 on ESCC migration independent of its suppression on ESCC growth. The results showed that the dose-response of F806-mediated inhibition of metastasis was not completely identical with inhibition of tumor size (Figures 2(c) and 2(e)), which suggested that F806-mediated suppression of ESCC metastasis did not completely rely on F806 against ESCC proliferation. Migratory protrusions of cellular movement, termed filopodia, lamellipodia, and invadopodia, are initiated by actin polymerization underlying the inner side of cytoplasmic membrane [31]. Based on the correlation of the above mentioned ESCC metastasis-related processes mediated by F806, F806 inhibition of actin assembly was supported by our demonstration that F806 disturbs actin assembly (Figure 3).

Although we understand that F806 suppresses ESCC migration and disturbs the dynamic actin assembly, we needed to determine the proteins regulating above two physiological processes. CDC42, RAC1, and RHOA are well characterized for actin reorganization, cancer invasion, and metastasis in various cancers [24, 32–35] but are still incompletely characterized in ESCC [36-41]. Examination of the effects of F806 on their expression showed that F806 inhibits their activity via reducing their expression (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)).

CDC42, RAC1, and RHOA are not only involved in actin assembly and cell migration [42, 43] but also participate in connecting Paxillin with actin filaments and focal adhesions [44]. Paxillin has emerged as a crucial coordinator of Rho GTPase activity in the context of cell migration [45]. We evaluated the activity regulated by F806 via determining the colocalization of Paxillin and actin filaments. When ESCC cells were exposed to F806, the aggregation of Paxillin was blocked at the ends of actin filaments close to the interior surface of plasma membranes; the depolymerization of actin filaments was promoted (Figure 4(c)). In addition, we previously showed that ITGB1, a constituent of the focal adhesion complex, is also reduced by F806 [12]. The loss of ITGB1 may result in the separation of Paxillin from the intracellular surface of cell adhesion sites. Because Paxillin plays an important role in the recruitment of an array of GTPase activators to sites of cell adhesion, loss of Paxillin at these sites may in turn further inhibit CDC42, RAC1, and RHOA activity. Therefore, we examined CDC42, RAC1, and RHOA as potential target proteins of F806 based on their role in the formation and turnover of actin filaments, as well as cancer invasion and metastasis.

F806 may also regulate other upstream signal complexes involved in cytoskeletal organization, cancer apoptosis, and autophagy. In the future, we will utilize F806 as a potent tool to find vital proteins, further elaborating their mechanism in ESCC development, to ultimately develop the clinical drugs for ESCC therapy.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the therapeutic effects of F806 on invasion and metastasis of ESCC via inhibiting the function of Rho family proteins for regulating F-actin assemble and the combination of Paxillin with F-actin ends. Therefore, it can be said that we found the novel efficacy of F806 interrupting Rho family proteins/F-actin assembly/ESCC migration pathway in metastatic ESCC.