Wnt10b induces chemotaxis of osteosarcoma and correlates with reduced survival

Background. Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant tumor of the bone that typically presents in the second decade of life and has a poor prognosis, especially in metastatic cases. Wnt signaling contributes to the pathogenesis of tumors such as colon cancer and malignant melanoma. Wnt signaling controls normal bone formation during embryogenesis and homeostasis in adult organisms, thus we evaluated Wnt signaling in OS. Procedure. We surveyed the expression of Wnts, their receptors, Frizzleds and LRPs, and soluble Writ inhibitors (sFRPs) in four OS cell lines by RT-PCR. We also tested biological response of OS cell lines to exogenous Wnts by measuring P-catenin stabilization, Dvl phosphorylation, TOPFLASH activity and chemotaxis. Human OS tumor microarrays were evaluated for expression of Wnt10b by immunohistochemistry. Results. All cell lines tested showed expression of at least three Writs and one Frizzled. Exogenous Wnt3a and Wnt10b treatment induced Dvl phosphorylation, beta-catenin stabilization and TCF4 transcriptional activity in both metastatic and non-metastatic murine OS cell lines. Metastatic OS cell lines showed better chemotaxis response to Writs than the non-metastatic OS cell lines. Immunohistochemistry studies of 44 human OS samples demonstrated that Wnt10b expression correlated with decreased overall survival. Conclusions. These results further supports a possible autocrine or paracrine Writ pathway in metastatic potential of OS.