Primary solid tumors originate close to pre-existing tissue vasculature, initially growing along such tissue blood vessels, and this phenomenon is important for the metastatic potential which frequently occurs in highly vascularized tissues. Unfortunately, preclinic and clinic anti-angiogenic approaches have not been very successful, and multiple factors have been found to contribute to toxicity and tumor resistance. Moreover, tumors can highlight intrinsic or acquired resistances, or show adaptation to the VEGF-targeted therapies. Furthermore, different mechanisms of vascularization, activation of alternative signaling pathways, and increased tumor aggressiveness make this context even more complex. On the other hand, it has to be considered that the transitional restoration of normal, not fenestrated, microvessels allows the drug to reach the tumor and act with the maximum efficiency. However, these effects are time-limited and different, depending on the various types of cancer, and clearly define a specific “normalization window.” So, new horizons in the therapeutic approaches consist on the treatment of the tumor with pro- (instead of anti-) angiogenic therapies, which could strengthen a network of well-structured blood vessels that facilitate the transport of the drug.
Little is known about the regulatory mechanisms of endothelial cell (EC) proliferation by retinal pericytes and vice versa. In a model of coculture with bovine retinal pericytes lasting for 24 h, rat brain ECs showed an increase in arachidonic acid (AA) release, whereas Western blot and RT-PCR analyses revealed that ECs activated the protein expression of cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) and its phosphorylated form and calcium-independent intracellular phospholipase A 2 (iPLA 2 ). No activation of the same enzymes was seen in companion pericytes. In ECs, the protein level of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was also enhanced significantly, a finding not observed in cocultured pericytes. The expression of protein kinase C-a (PKCa) and its phosphorylated form was also enhanced in ECs. Wortmannin, LY294002, and PD98059, used as inhibitors of upstream kinases (the PI3-kinase/Akt/PDK1 or MEK-1 pathway) in cultures, markedly attenuated AA release and the expression of phosphorylated forms of endothelial cPLA 2 , PKCa, and ERK1/2. By confocal microscopy, activation of PKCa in perinuclear regions of ECs grown in coculture as well as strong activation of cPLA 2 in ECs taken from a model of mixed culture were clearly observed. However, no increased expression of both enzymes was found in cocultured pericytes. Our findings indicate that a sequential activation of PKCa contributes to endothelial ERK1/2 and cPLA 2 phosphorylation induced by either soluble factors or direct cell-tocell contact, and that the PKCa-cPLA 2 pathway appears to play a key role in the early phase of EC-pericyte interactions regulating blood retina or blood-brain barrier maturation.-
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