Cancers 2014, 6(4), 2330-2342; doi:10.3390/cancers6042330
Morpholino-Mediated Isoform Modulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 (VEGFR2) Reduces Colon Cancer Xenograft Growth
John A Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
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Received: 29 June 2014 / Revised: 12 October 2014 / Accepted: 18 November 2014 / Published: 26 November 2014
Abstract
Angiogenesis plays a key role in tumor growth. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a pro-angiogenic that is involved in tumor angiogenesis. When VEGF binds to membrane-bound vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (mVEGFR2), it promotes angiogenesis. Through alternative polyadenylation, VEGFR2 is also expressed in a soluble form (sVEGFR2). sVEGFR2 sequesters VEGF and is therefore anti-angiogenic. The aim of this study was to show that treatment with a previously developed and reported antisense morpholino oligomer that shifts expression from mVEGFR2 to sVEGFR2 would lead to reduced tumor vascularization and growth in a murine colon cancer xenograft model. Xenografts were generated by implanting human HCT-116 colon cancer cells into the flanks of NMRI nu/nu mice. Treatment with the therapeutic morpholino reduced both tumor growth and tumor vascularization. Because the HCT-116 cells used for the experiments did not express VEGFR2 and because the treatment morpholino targeted mouse rather than human VEGFR2, it is likely that treatment morpholino was acting on the mouse endothelial cells rather than directly on the tumor cells. View Full-Text
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MDPI and ACS Style
Stagg, B.C.; Uehara, H.; Lambert, N.; Rai, R.; Gupta, I.; Radmall, B.; Bates, T.; Ambati, B.K. Morpholino-Mediated Isoform Modulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 (VEGFR2) Reduces Colon Cancer Xenograft Growth. Cancers 2014, 6, 2330-2342.