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Treatment of melanoma cells with a bcl-2/bcl-xL antisense oligonucleotide induces antiangiogenic activity

Oncogene volume 22, pages 8441–8447 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

We have recently reported that bcl-2 overexpression and hypoxia synergistically interact to modulate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and in vivo angiogenesis in tumour cells through VEGF mRNA stabilization and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-mediated transcriptional activity. Bcl-2 antisense treatment has shown promising clinical results in patients with malignant melanoma. In the present study, we demonstrated that the bcl-2/bcl-xL bispecific antisense oligonucleotide 4625 inhibits bcl-2 expression and angiogenesis in two bcl-2 overexpressing clones derived from the M14 human melanoma cell line. The antiangiogenic effect was determined in in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis assays. In particular, a reduction of hypoxia-induced VEGF secretion was observed after 4625 treatment, and the conditioned medium (CM) of bcl-2 overexpressing clones treated with 4625 and exposed to hypoxic conditions resulted in decreased endothelial cell proliferation when compared to CM of untreated control cells. In addition, we found that CM of 4625 antisense-treated bcl-2 transfectants inhibited in vivo vessel formation in matrigel plugs implanted subcutaneously in C57/B16 mice. Our findings confirm that bcl-2 plays a crucial role in melanoma angiogenesis and demonstrate for the first time that downregulation of bcl-2 by antisense treatment has potential to inhibit angiogenesis independent of its effect on cell survival. The use of 4625 in cancer therapy is suggested as an approach to facilitate simultaneously tumour cell apoptosis and inhibit tumour angiogenesis.

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Abbreviations

FCS:

fetal calf serum

SFM:

serum-free medium

CM:

conditioned medium

HUVEC:

human umbilical endothelial cells

HMVEC:

human microvascular endothelial cells

TUNEL:

TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling assay

VEGF:

vascular endothelial growth factor

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Acknowledgements

Dr Daniela Trisciuoglio is a recipient of fellowship from the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC). We are grateful to Dr Adele Petricca for secretarial assistance in preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Chemotherapy Laboratory, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Via delle Messi d'Oro 156, Rome, 00158, Italy

    Donatella Del Bufalo, Daniela Trisciuoglio, Marco Scarsella & Gabriella Zupi

  2. Department of Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Uwe Zangemeister-Wittke

Authors
  1. Donatella Del Bufalo
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  2. Daniela Trisciuoglio
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  3. Marco Scarsella
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  4. Uwe Zangemeister-Wittke
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  5. Gabriella Zupi
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Correspondence to Gabriella Zupi.

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Supported by Italian Association for Cancer Research (DDB and GZ), Ministero della Salute (DDB and GZ) and CNR-MIUR (GZ)

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Bufalo, D., Trisciuoglio, D., Scarsella, M. et al. Treatment of melanoma cells with a bcl-2/bcl-xL antisense oligonucleotide induces antiangiogenic activity. Oncogene 22, 8441–8447 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206999

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