Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The human chemokine receptor CCRL2 suppresses chemotaxis and invasion by blocking CCL2-induced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in human breast cancer cells

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Medical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The human chemokine receptor CCRL2 is a member of the atypical chemokine receptor family. CCRL2 is unable to couple with G-proteins and fails to induce classical chemokine signaling for the highly conserved DRYLAIV motif essential for signaling has been changed to QRYLVFL. We investigated whether CCRL2 is involved in the chemotaxis, invasion, and proliferation of human breast cancer cells. Firstly, expression of CCRL2 was determined in six breast cancer cell lines by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot. Then, we established stable cell lines overexpressing CCRL2 to explore the function of CCRL2 in chemotaxis and invasion by transwell assays, and the signaling downstream was further investigated. The effect of CCRL2 on proliferation was detected by colony formation assays and tumor xenograft study. We found that stable overexpression of CCRL2 in MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 cells attenuated the chemotaxis and invasion stimulated by its ligand CCL2. CCRL2 inhibits p38 MAPK (p38) phosphorylation and up-regulates the expression of E-cadherin. This effect was eliminated by the inhibitor of p38 MAPK. CCRL2 inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that CCRL2 functions as a tumor suppressor in human breast cancer cells.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2015. CA Cancer J Clin. 2015;65(1):5–29. doi:10.3322/caac.21254.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Majeed W, Aslam B, Javed I, Khaliq T, Muhammad F, Ali A, et al. Breast cancer: major risk factors and recent developments in treatment. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev: APJCP. 2014;15(8):3353–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Fessler E, Dijkgraaf FE, Melo FDE, Medema JP. Cancer stem cell dynamics in tumor progression and metastasis: is the microenvironment to blame? Cancer Lett. 2013;341(1):97–104. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2012.10.015.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Schmeichel KL. A fly’s eye view of tumor progression and metastasis. Breast Cancer Res. 2004;6(2):82–3. doi:10.1186/Bcr763.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ulvmar MH, Hub E, Rot A. Atypical chemokine receptors. Exp Cell Res. 2011;317(5):556–68. doi:10.1016/j.yexcr.2011.01.012.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Sarvaiya PJ, Guo D, Ulasov I, Gabikian P, Lesniak MS. Chemokines in tumor progression and metastasis. Oncotarget. 2013;4(12):2171–85.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Patel M, McInnes IB, Graham G. Atypical chemokine receptors in inflammatory disease. Curr Mol Med. 2009;9(1):86–93.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cancellieri C, Vacchini A, Locati M, Bonecchi R, Borroni EM. Atypical chemokine receptors: from silence to sound. Biochem Soc Trans. 2013;41(1):231–6. doi:10.1042/BST20120246.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Nibbs RJ, Graham GJ. Immune regulation by atypical chemokine receptors. Nat Rev Immunol. 2013;13(11):815–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Leick M, Catusse J, Follo M, Nibbs RJ, Hartmann TN, Veelken H, et al. CCL19 is a specific ligand of the constitutively recycling atypical human chemokine receptor CRAM-B. Immunology. 2010;129(4):536–46. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2567.2009.03209.x.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Biber K, Zuurman MW, Homan H, Boddeke HW. Expression of L-CCR in HEK 293 cells reveals functional responses to CCL2, CCL5, CCL7, and CCL8. J Leukoc Biol. 2003;74(2):243–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Zabel BA, Nakae S, Zuniga L, Kim JY, Ohyama T, Alt C, et al. Mast cell-expressed orphan receptor CCRL2 binds chemerin and is required for optimal induction of IgE-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. J Exp Med. 2008;205(10):2207–20. doi:10.1084/jem.20080300.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Otero K, Vecchi A, Hirsch E, Kearley J, Vermi W, Del Prete A, et al. Nonredundant role of CCRL2 in lung dendritic cell trafficking. Blood. 2010;116(16):2942–9. doi:10.1182/blood-2009-12-259903.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Sliutz G, Eder H, Koelbl H, Tempfer C, Auerbach L, Schneeberger C, et al. Quantification of uPA receptor expression in human breast cancer cell lines by cRT-PCR. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 1996;40(3):257–63.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Cho J, Gruol DL. The chemokine CCL2 activates p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in cultured rat hippocampal cells. J Neuroimmunol. 2008;199(1–2):94–103. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2008.05.011.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Fan H, Hall P, Santos LL, Gregory JL, Fingerle-Rowson G, Bucala R, et al. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor and CD74 regulate macrophage chemotactic responses via MAPK and Rho GTPase. J Immunol. 2011;186(8):4915–24. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1003713.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Zohn IE, Li Y, Skolnik EY, Anderson KV, Han J, Niswander L. p38 and a p38-interacting protein are critical for downregulation of E-cadherin during mouse gastrulation. Cell. 2006;125(5):957–69. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.03.048.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Kuma Y, Sabio G, Bain J, Shpiro N, Marquez R, Cuenda A. BIRB796 inhibits all p38 MAPK isoforms in vitro and in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2005;280(20):19472–9. doi:10.1074/jbc.M414221200.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Ali S, Lazennec G. Chemokines: novel targets for breast cancer metastasis. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2007;26(3–4):401–20. doi:10.1007/s10555-007-9073-z.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Razmkhah M, Arabpour F, Taghipour M, Mehrafshan A, Chenari N, Ghaderi A. Expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors in brain tumor tissue derived cells. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev: APJCP. 2014;15(17):7201–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Salazar N, Castellan M, Shirodkar SS, Lokeshwar BL. Chemokines and chemokine receptors as promoters of prostate cancer growth and progression. Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr. 2013;23(1):77–91.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Steen A, Larsen O, Thiele S, Rosenkilde MM. Biased and g protein-independent signaling of chemokine receptors. Front Immunol. 2014;5:277. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2014.00277.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Del Prete A, Bonecchi R, Vecchi A, Mantovani A, Sozzani S. CCRL2, a fringe member of the atypical chemoattractant receptor family. Eur J Immunol. 2013;43(6):1418–22. doi:10.1002/eji.201243179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Qian BZ, Li J, Zhang H, Kitamura T, Zhang J, Campion LR, et al. CCL2 recruits inflammatory monocytes to facilitate breast-tumour metastasis. Nature. 2011;475(7355):222–5. doi:10.1038/nature10138.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Koul HK, Pal M, Koul S. Role of p38 MAP kinase signal transduction in solid tumors. Genes Cancer. 2013;4(9–10):342–59. doi:10.1177/1947601913507951.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Barrantes ID, Nebreda AR. Roles of p38 MAPKs in invasion and metastasis. Biochem Soc Trans. 2012;40:79–84. doi:10.1042/Bst20110676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. von Zeidler SV, Botelho TD, Mendonca EF, Batista AC. E-cadherin as a potential biomarker of malignant transformation in oral leukoplakia: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Cancer. 2014; 14. doi: Artn 972. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-14-972.

  28. Wu HC, Yeh YL, Kuo WW, Huang SK, Kuo WH, Hsieh DJ, et al. P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways are involved in the hypertrophy and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes induced by Porphyromonas gingivalis conditioned medium. Cell Biochem Funct. 2008;26(2):246–55. doi:10.1002/cbf.1443.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Chen L, Mayer JA, Krisko TI, Speers CW, Wang T, Hilsenbeck SG, et al. Inhibition of the p38 kinase suppresses the proliferation of human ER-negative breast cancer cells. Cancer Res. 2009;69(23):8853–61. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-1636.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Hui L, Bakiri L, Mairhorfer A, Schweifer N, Haslinger C, Kenner L, et al. p38alpha suppresses normal and cancer cell proliferation by antagonizing the JNK-c-Jun pathway. Nat Genet. 2007;39(6):741–9. doi:10.1038/ng2033.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Catusse J, Leick M, Groch M, Clark DJ, Buchner MV, Zirlik K, et al. Role of the atypical chemoattractant receptor CRAM in regulating CCL19 induced CCR7 responses in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Mol Cancer. 2010;9:297. doi:10.1186/1476-4598-9-297.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Yin F, Xu Z, Wang Z, Yao H, Shen Z, Yu F, et al. Elevated chemokine CC-motif receptor-like 2 (CCRL2) promotes cell migration and invasion in glioblastoma. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2012;429(3–4):168–72. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.10.120.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Akram IG, Georges R, Hielscher T, Adwan H, Berger MR. The chemokines CCR1 and CCRL2 have a role in colorectal cancer liver metastasis. Tumour Biol 2015 Sep 18. [Epub ahead of print].

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhong-Hua Wang or Zhou-Luo Ou.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Additional information

Zhong-Hua Wang and Zhou-Luo Ou have contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, LP., Cao, J., Zhang, J. et al. The human chemokine receptor CCRL2 suppresses chemotaxis and invasion by blocking CCL2-induced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in human breast cancer cells. Med Oncol 32, 254 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-015-0696-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-015-0696-6

Keywords

Navigation