Salta al contenuto principale
Passa alla visualizzazione normale.

ALICE CONIGLIARO

Colorectal cancer-derived small extracellular vesicles induce TGFβ1-mediated epithelial to mesenchymal transition of hepatocytes

  • Autori: Pucci, Marzia; Moschetti, Marta; Urzi, Ornella; Loria, Marco; Conigliaro, Alice; Di Bella, Maria Antonietta; Crescitelli, Rossella; Olofsson Bagge, Roger; Gallo, Alessia; Santos, Mark F; Puglisi, Caterina; Forte, Stefano; Lorico, Aurelio; Alessandro, Riccardo; Fontana, Simona
  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2023
  • Tipologia: Articolo in rivista
  • OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/587454

Abstract

Background: Metastatic disease is the major cause of cancer-related deaths. Increasing evidence shows that primary tumor cells can promote metastasis by preparing the local microenvironment of distant organs, inducing the formation of the so-called "pre-metastatic niche". In recent years, several studies have highlighted that among the tumor-derived molecular components active in pre-metastatic niche formation, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) play a crucial role. Regarding liver metastasis, the ability of tumor-derived sEVs to affect the activities of non-parenchymal cells such as Kupffer cells and hepatic stellate cells is well described, while the effects on hepatocytes, the most conspicuous and functionally relevant hepatic cellular component, remain unknown. Methods: sEVs isolated from SW480 and SW620 CRC cells and from clinical samples of CRC patients and healthy subjects were used to treat human healthy hepatocytes (THLE-2 cells). RT-qPCR, Western blot and confocal microscopy were applied to investigate the effects of this treatment. Results: Our study shows for the first time that TGFβ1-carrying CRC_sEVs impair the morphological and functional properties of healthy human hepatocytes by triggering their TGFβ1/SMAD-dependent EMT. These abilities of CRC_sEVs were further confirmed by evaluating the effects elicited on hepatocytes by sEVs isolated from plasma and biopsies from CRC patients. Conclusions: Since it is known that EMT of hepatocytes leads to the formation of a fibrotic environment, a well-known driver of metastasis, these results suggest that CRC_sEV-educated hepatocytes could have an active and until now neglected role during liver metastasis formation.