This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Carter, W. B. Articles by Muffly, B. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Carter, W. B. Articles by Muffly, B. J.

Mechanisms of HER2-Induced Endothelial Cell Retraction

¹ Don & Erika Wallace Comprehensive Breast Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
² Department of Microbiology/Immunology and Cell Biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
³ Division of Surgical Oncology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to: W. Bradford Carter, MD; E-mail: Bradford.Carter{at}moffitt.org

Background: HER2 overexpression imparts a metastatic advantage in breast cancer. We have shown that HER2 signaling in breast cancer cells induces adjacent endothelial cell (EC) retraction, disrupting endothelial integrity. Because endothelial integrity is dependent on the adherens junctions, we postulated that the mechanism of tumor cell-induced EC retraction involves dissociation of catenin proteins from vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin. In this study, we report a loss of VE-cadherin in tumor-associated EC. We also tested for a change of catenin dissociation from VE-cadherin by manipulating HER2 signaling in tumor cells.

Methods: We tested confluent monolayers of human EC for downregulation of VE cadherin and dissociation of catenins from VE cadherin after exposure to breast cancer cells or conditioned media. Using immunoprecipitation, we quantitated the remaining complexed catenins to VE-cadherin in tumor-associated EC after different treatments to manipulate HER2 signaling.

Results: Treatment of EC with conditioned media from MCF-7 cells expressing HER2 induced a loss of VE-cadherin expression, and time-dependent dissociation of catenins from VE cadherin. Catenin dissociation from VE-cadherin was enhanced by Heregulin ß1 (P < .05) stimulation and decreased by trastuzumab (P < .05) blockade of HER2 signaling in cancer cells. An increase in EC phosphoSrc (Tyr 416) was seen by 8 hours.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that HER2 induction of EC retraction involves both down-regulation of VE-cadherin and dissociation of catenins. HER2 signaling appears to regulate this potential metastatic mechanism. Further, Src phosphorylation suggests that this pathway may be involved in this mechanism.

Key Words: Breast cancer • HER2 • VE-cadherin • Catenin