The cancer glycocalyx mediates intravascular adhesion and extravasation during metastatic dissemination.

The glycocalyx on tumor cells has been recently identified as an important driver for cancer progression, possibly providing critical opportunities for treatment. Metastasis, in particular, is often the limiting step in the survival to cancer, yet our understanding of how tumor cells escape the vascular system to initiate metastatic sites remains limited. Using an in vitro model of the human microvasculature, we assess here the importance of the tumor and vascular glycocalyces during tumor cell extravasation. Through selective manipulation of individual components of the glycocalyx, we reveal a mechanism whereby tumor cells prepare an adhesive vascular niche by depositing components of the glycocalyx along the endothelium. Accumulated hyaluronic acid shed by tumor cells subsequently mediates adhesion to the endothelium via the glycoprotein CD44. Trans-endothelial migration and invasion into the stroma occurs through binding of the isoform CD44v to components of the sub-endothelial extra-cellular matrix. Targeting of the hyaluronic acid-CD44 glycocalyx complex results in significant reduction in the extravasation of tumor cells. These studies provide evidence of tumor cells repurposing the glycocalyx to promote adhesive interactions leading to cancer progression. Such glycocalyx-mediated mechanisms may be therapeutically targeted to hinder metastasis and improve patient survival.