TY  - JOUR
A1  - Thibaudeau, Laure
A1  - Taubenberger, Anna V.
A1  - Holzapfel, Boris M.
A1  - Quent, Verena M.
A1  - Fuehrmann, Tobias
A1  - Hesami, Parisa
A1  - Brown, Toby D.
A1  - Dalton, Paul D.
A1  - Power, Carl A.
A1  - Hollier, Brett G.
A1  - Hutmacher, Dietmar W.
T1  - A tissue-engineered humanized xenograft model of human breast cancer metastasis to bone
JF  - Disease Models & Mechanisms
N2  - The skeleton is a preferred homing site for breast cancer metastasis. To date, treatment options for patients with bone metastases are mostly palliative and the disease is still incurable. Indeed, key mechanisms involved in breast cancer osteotropism are still only partially understood due to the lack of suitable animal models to mimic metastasis of human tumor cells to a human bone microenvironment. In the presented study, we investigate the use of a human tissue-engineered bone construct to develop a humanized xenograft model of breast cancer-induced bone metastasis in a murine host. Primary human osteoblastic cell-seeded melt electrospun scaffolds in combination with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 7 were implanted subcutaneously in non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice. The tissue-engineered constructs led to the formation of a morphologically intact 'organ' bone incorporating a high amount of mineralized tissue, live osteocytes and bone marrow spaces. The newly formed bone was largely humanized, as indicated by the incorporation of human bone cells and human-derived matrix proteins. After intracardiac injection, the dissemination of luciferase-expressing human breast cancer cell lines to the humanized bone ossicles was detected by bioluminescent imaging. Histological analysis revealed the presence of metastases with clear osteolysis in the newly formed bone. Thus, human tissue-engineered bone constructs can be applied efficiently as a target tissue for human breast cancer cells injected into the blood circulation and replicate the osteolytic phenotype associated with breast cancer-induced bone lesions. In conclusion, we have developed an appropriate model for investigation of species-specific mechanisms of human breast cancer-related bone metastasis in vivo.
KW  - breast cancer
KW  - bone metastasis
KW  - humanized xenograft model
KW  - melt electrospinning
KW  - tissue engineering
KW  - osteotropism
KW  - in vivo
KW  - stem-cell niche
KW  - human prostate-cancer
KW  - morphogenetic protein
KW  - osteoprogenitor cells
KW  - endochondral ossification
KW  - mouse model
KW  - trabecular bone
KW  - calcium phosphate
KW  - skeletal metastases
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-117466
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Seiler, Jonas
A1  - Ebert, Regina
A1  - Rudert, Maximilian
A1  - Herrmann, Marietta
A1  - Leich, Ellen
A1  - Weißenberger, Manuela
A1  - Horas, Konstantin
T1  - Bone metastases of diverse primary origin frequently express the VDR (vitamin D receptor) and CYP24A1
JF  - Journal of Clinical Medicine
N2  - Active vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) is known to exert direct anti-cancer actions on various malignant tissues through binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR). These effects have been demonstrated in breast, prostate, renal and thyroid cancers, which all have a high propensity to metastasise to bone. In addition, there is evidence that vitamin D catabolism via 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1) is altered in tumour cells, thus, reducing local active vitamin D levels in cancer cells. The aim of this study was to assess VDR and CYP24A1 expression in various types of bone metastases by using immunohistochemistry. Overall, a high total VDR protein expression was detected in 59% of cases (39/66). There was a non-significant trend of high-grade tumours towards the low nuclear VDR expression (p = 0.07). Notably, patients with further distant metastases had a reduced nuclear VDR expression (p = 0.03). Furthermore, a high CYP24A1 expression was detected in 59% (39/66) of bone metastases. There was a significant positive correlation between nuclear VDR and CYP24A1 expression (p = 0.001). Collectively, the VDR and CYP24A1 were widely expressed in a multitude of bone metastases, pointing to a potential role of vitamin D signalling in cancer progression. This is of high clinical relevance, as vitamin D deficiency is frequent in patients with bone metastases.
KW  - vitamin D receptor
KW  - VDR
KW  - CYP24A1
KW  - bone metastasis
KW  - vitamin D
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297377
SN  - 2077-0383
VL  - 11
IS  - 21
ER  -