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Stress Promotes a More Invasive Phenotype in Human Melanoma Cells
Author(s) -
Amomoy Jerry,
Barkoudeh Laila,
Phung Vanessa,
Nguyen Cecilia,
Fajardo Abigail,
Zarghooni Melody,
Rosero Rebecca,
Klettke Elizabeth,
Villares Gabriel J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.02067
Subject(s) - tumor microenvironment , melanoma , cancer research , cytokine , secretion , tumor progression , metastasis , downregulation and upregulation , biology , immunology , phenotype , cancer , medicine , endocrinology , tumor cells , biochemistry , gene
Growing evidence suggests that stress plays a vital role in metastasis and tumor development by activating the sympathetic nervous system. The catecholamines released into the tumor microenvironment (TME), specifically norepinephrine (NE), results in a cascade effect leading to a variety of pro‐metastatic activities that sustain tumor growth and increase melanoma aggressiveness. Most notable are the secretion of cytokines and the stimulation of tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs). Using a co‐culture system of melanoma cancer cells and macrophages we found that sustained exposure of NE in the microenvironment induced the release of tumor‐growth and progression‐associated cytokines from TAMs. Of the upregulated cytokines found; IL‐11, IL‐24, GRO‐a, DKK‐1, and angiopoietin‐2 are known to induce growth, migration, invasion, and tumor development in human melanoma. Our next steps include validating the cytokine array using real time PCR and using an ELISA assay to quantify protein levels of antigens associated with the cytokines secreted from the cells and macrophages. Support or Funding Information US Department of Education for the HSI‐STEM Grant University of St. Thomas for Student Research for partial funding