Proteomic and transcriptomic characterisation of FIA10, a novel murine leukemic cell line that metastasizes into the brain

Abstract

Brain metastasis leads to increased mortality and is a major site of relapse for several cancers, yet the molecular mechanisms of brain metastasis are not well understood. In this study, we established and characterized a new leukemic cell line, FIA10, that metastasizes into the central nervous system (CNS) following injection into the tail vein of syngeneic mice. Mice injected with FIA10 cells developed neurological symptoms such as loss of balance, tremor, ataxic gait and seizures, leading to death within 3 months. Histopathology coupled with PCR analysis clearly showed infiltration of leukemic FIA10 cells into the brain parenchyma of diseased mice, with little involvement of bone marrow, peripheral blood and other organs. To define pathways that contribute to CNS metastasis, global transcriptome and proteome analysis was performed on FIA10 cells and compared with that of the parental stem cell line FDCP-Mix and the related FIA18 cells, which give rise to myeloid leukemia without CNS involvement. 188 expressed genes (RNA level) and 189 proteins were upregulated (log2 ratio FIA10/FIA18 ≥ 1) and 120 mRNAs and 177 proteins were downregulated (log2 ratio FIA10/FIA18 ≤ 1) in FIA10 cells compared with FIA18 cells. Major upregulated pathways in FIA10 cells revealed by biofunctional analyses involved immune response components, adhesion molecules and enzymes implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling, opening and crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), molecules supporting migration within the brain parenchyma, alterations in metabolism necessary for growth within the brain microenvironment, and regulators for these functions. Downregulated RNA and protein included several tumor suppressors and DNA repair enzymes. In line with the function of FIA10 cells to specifically infiltrate the brain, FIA10 cells have acquired a phenotype that permits crossing the BBB and adapting to the brain microenvironment thereby escaping immune surveillance. These data and our model system FIA10 will be valuable resources to study the occurrence of brain metastases and may help in the development of potential therapies against brain invasion.