It is well known that cancer cells secrete angiogenic factors to recruit and sustain tumor vascular networks. However, little is known about the effect of endothelial cell-secreted factors on the phenotype and behavior of tumor cells. The hypothesis underlying this study is that endothelial cells initiate signaling pathways that enhance tumor cell survival and migration. Here, we observed that soluble mediators from primary human dermal microvascular endothelial cells induce phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), Akt, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in a panel of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells (OSCC-3, UM-SCC-1, UM-SCC-17B, UM-SCC-74A). Gene expression analysis demonstrated that interleukin-6 (IL- 6), interleukin-8 (CXCL8), and epidermal growth factor (EGF) are upregulated in endothelial cells cocultured with HNSCC. Blockade of endothelial cell-derived IL-6, CXCL8, or EGF by gene silencing or neutralizing antibodies inhibited phosphorylation of STAT3, Akt, and ERK in tumor cells, respectively. Notably, activation of STAT3, Akt, and ERK by endothelial cells enhanced migration and inhibited anoikis of tumor cells. We have previously demonstrated that Bcl-2 is upregulated in tumor microvessels in patients with HNSCC. Here, we observed that Bcl-2 signaling induces expression of IL-6, CXCL8, and EGF, providing a mechanism for the upregulation of these cytokines in tumor-associated endothelial cells. This study expands the contribution of endothelial cells to the pathobiology of tumor cells. It unveils a new mechanism in which endothelial cells function as initiators of molecular crosstalks that enhance survival and migration of tumor cells.
Field cancerization involves the lateral spread of premalignant or malignant disease and contributes to the recurrence of head and neck tumors. The overall hypothesis underlying this work is that endothelial cells actively participate in tumor cell invasion by secreting chemokines and creating a chemotactic gradient for tumor cells. Here we demonstrate that conditioned medium from head and neck tumor cells enhance Bcl-2 expression in neovascular endothelial cells. Oral squamous cell carcinoma-3 (OSCC3) and Kaposi's sarcoma (SLK) show enhanced invasiveness when cocultured with pools of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells stably expressing Bcl-2 (HDMEC-Bcl-2), compared to cocultures with empty vector controls (HDMEC-LXSN). Xenografted OSCC3 tumors vascularized with HDMEC-Bcl-2 presented higher local invasion than OSCC3 tumors vascularized with control HDMEC-LXSN. CXCL1 and CXCL8 were upregulated in primary endothelial cells exposed to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as well as in HDMEC-Bcl-2. Notably, blockade of CXCR2 signaling, but not CXCR1, inhibited OSCC3 and SLK invasion toward endothelial cells. These data demonstrate that CXC chemokines secreted by endothelial cells induce tumor cell invasion and suggest that the process of lateral spread of tumor cells observed in field cancerization is guided by chemotactic signals that originated from endothelial cells.
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