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Targeting an autocrine IL-6–SPINK1 signaling axis to suppress metastatic spread in ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Oncogene volume 39, pages 6606–6618 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

A major clinical challenge of ovarian cancer is the development of malignant ascites accompanied by widespread peritoneal metastasis. In ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC), a challenging subtype of ovarian cancer, this problem is compounded by near-universal primary chemoresistance; patients with advanced stage OCCC thus lack effective therapies and face extremely poor survival rates. Here we show that tumor-cell-expressed serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) is a key driver of OCCC progression and metastasis. Using cell culture models of human OCCC, we find that shRNA silencing of SPINK1 sensitizes tumor cells to anoikis and inhibits proliferation. Knockdown of SPINK1 in OCCC cells also profoundly suppresses peritoneal metastasis in mouse implantation models of human OCCC. We next identify a novel autocrine signaling axis in OCCC cells whereby tumor-cell-produced interleukin-6 (IL-6) regulates SPINK1 expression to stimulate a common protumorigenic gene expression pattern leading to anoikis resistance and proliferation of OCCC cells. We further demonstrate that this signaling pathway can be successfully interrupted with the IL-6Rα inhibitor tocilizumab, sensitizing cells to anoikis in vitro and reducing metastasis in vivo. These results suggest that clinical trials of IL-6 pathway inhibitors in OCCC may be warranted, and that SPINK1 might offer a candidate predictive biomarker in this population.

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Fig. 1: SPINK1 knockdown sensitizes OCCC tumor cells to anoikis and inhibits proliferation.
Fig. 2: SPINK1 knockdown in OCCC tumor cells reduces tumor burden and inhibits peritoneal metastasis.
Fig. 3: The IL-6 signaling pathway drives SPINK1 expression in OCCC.
Fig. 4: IL-6 increases tumor cell survival and tumor cell proliferation through SPINK1 expression.
Fig. 5: Common gene expression patterns with knockdown of SPINK1 and IL-6.
Fig. 6: Tocilizumab targets IL-6 signaling to reduce SPINK1 expression, tumor cell survival, ascites accumulation and metastasis.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Brandy Edenfield of the Mayo Clinic Department of Cancer Biology histology shared resource for excellent technical support, and Dr. Laura Lewis-Tuffin for excellent technical support at the Mayo Clinic Flow Cytometry Core.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rochester, MN, USA

    Christine Mehner

  2. Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Christine Mehner, Erin Miller, Alexandra Hockla, Mathew Coban, Derek C. Radisky & Evette S. Radisky

  3. Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    S. John Weroha

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Contributions

CM and ESR designed and created this study, analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. CM, AH, and MC performed in vitro assays. SJW provided training and expertise for ultra-low attachment experiments. CM and EM performed the in vivo studies. DCR performed microarray analysis and contributed to the drafting of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Evette S. Radisky.

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Mehner, C., Miller, E., Hockla, A. et al. Targeting an autocrine IL-6–SPINK1 signaling axis to suppress metastatic spread in ovarian clear cell carcinoma. Oncogene 39, 6606–6618 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-01451-4

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