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A lineage-tracing tool to map the fate of hypoxic tumour cells.

ABSTRACT: Intratumoural hypoxia is a common characteristic of malignant treatment-resistant cancers. However, hypoxia-modification strategies for the clinic remain elusive. To date, little is known on the behaviour of individual hypoxic tumour cells in their microenvironment. To explore this issue in a spatial and temporally controlled manner, we developed a genetically encoded sensor by fusing the O2-labile hypoxia-inducible factor 1? (HIF-1?) protein to eGFP and a tamoxifen-regulated Cre recombinase. Under normoxic conditions, HIF-1? is degraded but, under hypoxia, the HIF-1?-GFP-Cre-ERT2 fusion protein is stabilised and in the presence of tamoxifen activates a tdTomato reporter gene that is constitutively expressed in hypoxic progeny. We visualise the random distribution of hypoxic tumour cells from hypoxic or necrotic regions and vascularised areas using immunofluorescence and intravital microscopy. Once tdTomato expression is induced, it is stable for at least 4?weeks. Using this system, we could show in vivo that the post-hypoxic cells were more proliferative than non-labelled cells. Our results demonstrate that single-cell lineage tracing of hypoxic tumour cells can allow visualisation of their behaviour in living tumours using intravital microscopy. This tool should prove valuable for the study of dissemination and treatment response of post-hypoxic tumour cells in vivo at single-cell resolution.This article has an associated First Person interview with the joint first authors of the paper.

SUBMITTER: Vermeer JAF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7406318 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A lineage-tracing tool to map the fate of hypoxic tumour cells.

Vermeer Jenny A F JAF Ient Jonathan J Markelc Bostjan B Kaeppler Jakob J Barbeau Lydie M O LMO Groot Arjan J AJ Muschel Ruth J RJ Vooijs Marc A MA

Disease models & mechanisms 20200730 7

Intratumoural hypoxia is a common characteristic of malignant treatment-resistant cancers. However, hypoxia-modification strategies for the clinic remain elusive. To date, little is known on the behaviour of individual hypoxic tumour cells in their microenvironment. To explore this issue in a spatial and temporally controlled manner, we developed a genetically encoded sensor by fusing the O<sub>2</sub>-labile hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) protein to eGFP and a tamoxifen-regulated Cre reco ...[more]

PMID: 32571767

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Project description:Aberrant repair after musculoskeletal injury is one of the most costly and common clinical scenarios in health care. While advances in our understanding of the key cells and pathways during the repair process have improved, there remains a gap in knowledge of the key progenitor cells and their interaction with the surrounding microenvironment. Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a pathological process caused by aberrant cell-fate determination resulting in the formation of bone in non-skeletal tissues after musculoskeletal injury. While the involvement of blood vessels in musculoskeletal repair is well-documented, the role of lymphatic vessels and the cells responsible for their ingrowth in musculoskeletal tissues during both homeostasis and after injury remains poorly understood. In this study, we employed a mouse model of traumatic HO to investigate lymphangiogenesis during musculoskeletal injury and repair and to uncover the key progenitor cells responsible to stimulate lymphangiogenesis and undergo aberrant cell fate differentiation. Our findings demonstrated that musculoskeletal injury triggered lymphangiogenesis at the injury site, including invasion of lymphatic vessels into the tendon proper. This increased lymphangiogenesis was driven by elevated levels of active Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C (VEGF-C) one-week post-injury. Through single-cell transcriptomic analyses, we identified mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) as a source of Vegfc following injury as well as the source of enzymes responsible for activating VEGF-C. These Vegfc-expressing MPCs underwent osteochondral differentiation and actively contributed to the formation of HO following injury. Notably, Vegfc haploinsufficiency resulted in a near 50% reduction in lymphangiogenesis and HO formation. Collectively, these findings suggest that MPC expression of VEGF-C and its activating enzymes in response to soft tissue trauma play a critical role in stimulating pathologic lymphatic vessel growth. Furthermore, Vegfc expressing MPCs undergo aberrant osteochondral differentiation responsible for HO. Targeting Vegfc expression and Vegfc-expressing progenitors therapeutically could potentially mitigate pathologic lymphangiogenesis, preventing aberrant tissue repair and subsequent HO formation.

Dataset Information

A lineage-tracing tool to map the fate of hypoxic tumour cells.

Publications

A lineage-tracing tool to map the fate of hypoxic tumour cells.

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