Intricate Macrophage-Colorectal Cancer Cell Communication in Response to Radiation.



Pinto, Ana T, Pinto, Marta L, Velho, Sérgia ORCID: 0000-0002-7104-8234, Pinto, Marta T, Cardoso, Ana P ORCID: 0000-0003-1987-0316, Figueira, Rita, Monteiro, Armanda, Marques, Margarida, Seruca, Raquel ORCID: 0000-0002-8851-4166, Barbosa, Mário A ORCID: 0000-0003-3568-7482
et al (show 3 more authors) (2016) Intricate Macrophage-Colorectal Cancer Cell Communication in Response to Radiation. PloS one, 11 (8). e0160891-.

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Abstract

Both cancer and tumour-associated host cells are exposed to ionizing radiation when a tumour is subjected to radiotherapy. Macrophages frequently constitute the most abundant tumour-associated immune population, playing a role in tumour progression and response to therapy. The present work aimed to evaluate the importance of macrophage-cancer cell communication in the cellular response to radiation. To address this question, we established monocultures and indirect co-cultures of human monocyte-derived macrophages with RKO or SW1463 colorectal cancer cells, which exhibit higher and lower radiation sensitivity, respectively. Mono- and co-cultures were then irradiated with 5 cumulative doses, in a similar fractionated scheme to that used during cancer patients' treatment (2 Gy/fraction/day). Our results demonstrated that macrophages sensitize RKO to radiation-induced apoptosis, while protecting SW1463 cells. Additionally, the co-culture with macrophages increased the mRNA expression of metabolism- and survival-related genes more in SW1463 than in RKO. The presence of macrophages also upregulated glucose transporter 1 expression in irradiated SW1463, but not in RKO cells. In addition, the influence of cancer cells on the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophage markers, upon radiation exposure, was also evaluated. In the presence of RKO or SW1463, irradiated macrophages exhibit higher levels of pro-inflammatory TNF, IL6, CCL2 and CCR7, and of anti-inflammatory CCL18. However, RKO cells induce an increase of macrophage pro-inflammatory IL1B, while SW1463 cells promote higher pro-inflammatory CXCL8 and CD80, and also anti-inflammatory VCAN and IL10 levels. Thus, our data demonstrated that macrophages and cancer cells mutually influence their response to radiation. Notably, conditioned medium from irradiated co-cultures increased non-irradiated RKO cell migration and invasion and did not impact on angiogenesis in a chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay. Overall, the establishment of primary human macrophage-cancer cell co-cultures revealed an intricate cell communication in response to ionizing radiation, which should be considered when developing therapies adjuvant to radiotherapy.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cell Line, Tumor, Macrophages, Chick Embryo, Animals, Humans, Colorectal Neoplasms, Neoplasm Invasiveness, Coculture Techniques, Cell Communication, Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 10 Jan 2018 10:13
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 06:46
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160891
Open Access URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC49813...
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3015772