Upon injury, muscle satellite cells become activated and produce skeletal muscle precursors that engage in myogenesis. We demonstrate that the transcription factor CCAAT/ enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPb) is expressed in the satellite cells of healthy muscle. C/EBPb expression is regulated during myogenesis such that C/EBPb is rapidly and massively downregulated upon induction to differentiate. Furthermore, persistent expression of C/EBPb in myoblasts potently inhibits differentiation at least in part through the inhibition of MyoD protein function and stability. As a consequence, myogenic factor expression, myosin heavy chain expression, and fusogenic activity were reduced in C/EBPboverexpressing cells. Using knockout models, we demonstrate that loss of Cebpb expression in satellite cells results in precocious differentiation of myoblasts in growth conditions and greater cell fusion upon differentiation. In vivo, loss of Cebpb expression in satellite cells resulted in larger muscle fiber cross-sectional area and improved repair after muscle injury. Our results support the notion that C/EBPb inhibits myogenic differentiation and that its levels must be reduced to allow for activation of MyoD target genes and the progression of differentiation.

Extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) of the human placenta invade the uterine decidua and its arteries to ensure successful placentation. We previously identified two decidua-derived molecules, TGF-β and a TGF-β-binding proteoglycan decorin (DCN), as negative regulators of EVT proliferation, migration, and invasiveness and reported that DCN acts via multiple tyrosine kinase receptors [epidermal growth factor-receptor (EGF-R), IGF receptor-1 (IGFR1), and vascular endothelial growth factor 2 receptor (VEGFR-2)]. Because binding of DCN to VEGFR-2 has never been reported earlier, present study explored this binding, the approximate location of VEGFR-2-binding site in DCN, and its functional role in our human first trimester EVT cell line HTR-8/SVneo. Based on far-Western blotting and coimmunoprecipitation studies, we report that DCN binds both native (EVT expressed) and recombinant VEGFR-2 and that this binding is abrogated with a VEGFR-2 blocking antibody, indicating an overlap between the ligand-binding and the DCN-binding domains of VEGFR-2. We determined that (125)I-labeled VEGF-E (a VEGFR-2 specific ligand) binds EVT with a dissociation constant (K(d)) of 566 pM, and DCN displaced this binding with an inhibition constant (K(i)) of 3.93-5.78 nM, indicating a 7- to 10-fold lower affinity of DCN for VEGFR-2. DCN peptide fragments derived from the leucine rich repeat 5 domain that blocked DCN-VEGFR-2 interactions or VEGF-E binding in EVT cells also blocked VEGF-A- and VEGF-E-induced EVT cell proliferation and migration, indicative of functional VEGFR-2-binding sites of DCN. Finally, DCN inhibited VEGF-E-induced EVT migration by interfering with ERK1/2 activation. Our findings reveal a novel role of DCN as an antagonistic ligand for VEGFR-2, having implications for pathophysiology of preeclampsia, a trophoblast hypoinvasive disorder in pregnancy, and explain its antiangiogenic function.

Extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells of the human placenta invade the uterine decidua and utero-placental arteries to establish an efficient exchange of key molecules between maternal and fetal blood. Trophoblast invasion is stringently regulated in situ both positively and negatively by a variety of factors at the fetal-maternal interface to maintain a healthy utero-placental homeostasis. One such factor, decorin, a transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta binding, leucine-rich proteoglycan produced by the decidua, negatively regulates EVT proliferation, migration, and invasiveness independent of TGF-beta. We reported that these decorin actions were mediated by its binding to multiple tyrosine kinase receptors, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2. The present study explores the mechanisms underlying decorin antagonism of VEGF (VEGF-A) stimulation of endovascular differentiation of EVT using our EVT cell line, HTR-8/SVneo. We observe that decorin inhibits VEGF-induced EVT cell migration and endothelial-like tube formation on matrigel. VEGF activates MAPKs (p38 MAPK, MEK3/6, and ERK1/2) in EVT cells, and the activation is blocked in both cases by decorin. Employing selective MAPK inhibitors, we show that both p38 and ERK pathways contribute independently to VEGF-induced EVT migration and capillary-like tube formation. VEGF upregulates the vascular endothelial (VE) markers VE-cadherin and beta-catenin in EVT and endothelial cells, and this upregulation is blocked by decorin and MAPK inhibitors. These results suggest that decorin inhibits VEGF-A stimulation of trophoblast migration and endovascular differentiation by interfering with p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 activation. Thus decorin-mediated dual impediment of endovascular differentiation of the EVT and angiogenesis may have implications for pathogenesis of preeclampsia, a hypoinvasive trophoblast disorder in pregnancy.

Lymphatic metastasis is a common occurence in breast cancer. Molecular mechanisms in breast cancer-associated lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis are poorly defined. We had earlier shown that elevated cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 expression by human as well as murine breast cancer cells promotes tumor progression and metastasis by multiple mechanisms: inactivation of host anti-tumor immune cells, stimulation of tumor cell migration and tumor-associated angiogenesis. Furthermore, COX-2 was causally associated with increased VEGF-C expression/secretion in human and murine breast cancer cell lines, thus promoting tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis. VEGF-C production was partially dependent on endogenous PGE-2 mediated activation of EP4 receptors on breast cancer cells thus making EP4 a good therapeutic target. It was unclear whether tumor or host derived PGE-2 had any direct effect on lymphangiogenesis, and if so, whether EP4 receptors on lymphatic endothelial cells played any role. To address these questions, we devised an in vitro lymphangiogenesis assay using a LYVE-1 expressing rat mesenteric lymphatic endothelial cell line (RMLEC) plated on growth factor- reduced Matrigel. Endothelial tube formation by RMLEC was rapidly induced in 12-18 hours after plating on Matrigel even under serum-free conditions, whereas plating them on collagen gel even in the presence of serum did not induce any tube formation. This suggested the presence of some inducing factor(s) in the Matrigel, possibly also present in the ECM in vivo. Matrigel-induced tube formation was completely abrogated in the presence of COX 1/2 inhibitor indomethacin (10mM), COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 (15mM), and a selective EP4 antagonist CJ-042794 (2.5 mM). In each case, an additional presence of PGE2 (1 µM) or an EP4 agonist PGE-1 alcohol (1µM) completely restored the tube formation on matrigel. A similar restoration was also achieved in the presence of serum-free conditioned media (24 h culture) of a COX-2 expressing murine breast cancer cell line C3L5 that induces lymphangiogenesis in vivo. These results indicate the roles of tumor as well as host-derived PGE2 in inducing lymphangiogenesis possibly by activating COX-2/EP4 receptors on lymphatic endothelial cells. Further studies are in progress to identify the tube-inducing component(s) in the Matrigel and C3L5 cell conditioned medium. (Supported by grants from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Ontario chapter and the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research to PKL. The gift of the RMLEC from Dr Sophia Ran, Southern Illinois Univ School of Medicine is gratefully acknowledged). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 636.

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