Abstract
Lymphangiogenesis plays a crucial role in promoting cancer metastasis to sentinel lymph nodes (LNs) and beyond. Increasing data have shown that simvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering medication for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, is involved in tumor growth and dissemination, and endothelial functions. This study aimed to investigate the potential effect of simvastatin on lymphatic formation and LN metastasis. Tumor models were established by subcutaneous injection of B16-F10 melanoma cells into mouse hind footpads. Simvastatin was administered (0.2 µg/g, intraperitoneal injection, IP) every other day for a total of eight times. Tissue samples were removed and examined by immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques. The lymphatics of LN, skin, liver, and lung exhibited morphological changes, and LN weight and metastatic area of the tumor group treated with simvastatin was lower than that of the untreated tumor group. Analysis of lymphatic size, area fraction, and lymphatic vessel density showed tissue specificity and variation to melanoma carcinogenesis in the simvastatin-treated group compared with the untreated group. In addition, LNs and cutaneous tissues showed altered expression of lymphangiogenic factors and inflammatory cytokines such as VEGF-A/-C/-D and TNF-α. These findings indicated that simvastatin may modify lymphangiogenesis and tumor progression in malignant melanoma.
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Abbreviations
- GM-CSF:
-
Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor
- IL-1β:
-
Interleukin-1β
- LEC:
-
Lymphatic endothelial cell
- LN:
-
Lymph node
- LVD:
-
Lymphatic vessel density
- LYVE-1:
-
Lymphatic endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1
- NOD:
-
Non-obese diabetic
- NOS:
-
Nitric oxide synthase
- Prox-1:
-
Prospero-related homeobox 1
- TNF-α:
-
Tumor necrosis factor-α
- VEGF:
-
Vascular endothelial growth factor
- VEGFR:
-
Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
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Acknowledgements
The study was supported by Grant in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (R.C.Ji, No. 17K01511). This work was partly carried out at the Faculty of Medicine, Oita University.
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Ji, RC., Eshita, Y., Kobayashi, T. et al. Role of simvastatin in tumor lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis. Clin Exp Metastasis 35, 785–796 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-018-9940-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-018-9940-8