Genes encoding secreted factors, including osteopontin (OPN), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 7 (CCL7) and thrombospondin 1 (TSP1) were identified, which enhanced tumorigenic properties of lung cancer cells indicative of their potential as targets for therapy.
Our findings indicate that PEDF decreases the metastatic potential of NSCLC cells through regulation of THBS1 release in cancer cell-derived exosomes, thus uncovering a new mechanism of lung cancer progression.
THBS1 was in general underexpressed in lung cancer; in contrast, mRNA levels of THBS2 were markedly overexpressed in a number of datasets of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), including lung adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma.
Previous studies demonstrated that metastatic MDA-MB-435 breast carcinoma cells synthesized and secreted less of the extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin 1 (TSP1) than nonmetastatic breast carcinoma cell lines, a trend also observed for melanoma and lung carcinoma cell lines.
The high sensitivity and specificity of E-Cadherin brain angiogenesis inhibitor 1 and thrombospondin-1 were also confirmed in early lung cancer analysis.