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Research Articles: Therapeutics, Targets, and Development

p37 from Mycoplasma hyorhinis promotes cancer cell invasiveness and metastasis through activation of MMP-2 and followed by phosphorylation of EGFR

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University School of Oncology, Beijing Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China

Requests for reprints: Chengchao Shou, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University School of Oncology, Beijing Cancer Hospital & Institute, 52 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100036, China. Phone: 86-10-88196766; Fax: 86-10-88122437. E-mail: scc{at}bjcancer.org

Abstract

High Mycoplasma infection in gastric cancer tissues suggests a possible association between Mycoplasma infection and tumorigenesis. By using human gastric cancer cells AGS and mouse melanoma cells B16F10 stably expressing p37, the major immunogen of Mycoplasma hyorhinis, we found that p37 enhanced cell motility, migration, and invasion in vitro. With experimental metastasis model in C57BL/6 mice, p37 adenovirus-infected B16F10 cells formed more metastasis lesions in the lung. Furthermore, p37 promoted the phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase and the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). Inhibitor of MMPs significantly blocked p37-induced EGFR but has little effect on extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation, whereas the p37-induced MMP-2 activation was only partially suppressed by inhibitor of MEK1/2 or by inhibitor of EGFR. However, all these inhibitors significantly reduced the p37-induced invasiveness of AGS cells. These results suggest that p37 may stimulate invasion by increasing the activity of MMP-2, thereby inducing EGFR phosphorylation and contributing to tumor metastasis on M. hyorhinis infection. p37 and its regulated molecules could be the potential targets for cancer therapy. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(3):530–7]

Grant support: National Natural Science Foundation of China (30130190), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7012007), and National "211 Project" of Peking University.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ Supplementary material for this article is available at Molecular Cancer Therapeutics Online (http://mct.aacrjournals.org/).

Received 10/15/07; revised 11/27/07; accepted 12/13/07.