Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 transfection induces angiogenesis and tumorigenesis of gastric carcinoma in nude mice via macrophage recruitment

Purpose: Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that has various roles in tumor development and progression. We previously reported that expression of MCP-1 is associated with macrophage infiltration and tumor vessel density in human gastric carcinomas. The present study was undertaken to obtain direct evidence that MCP-1 participates in recruitment of macrophages and induction of angiogenesis. Experimental Design: We did transfection experiments to analyze the role of MCP-1 in tumorigenicity and angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma in nude mice. The human MCP-1 gene cloned into the BCMGS-Neo expression vector was transfected into the human gastric carcinoma TMK-1 cell line. We examined tumor volumes with the ectopic s.c. xenograft model and turnorigenicity with the orthotopic gastric xenograft model. We determined intratumor microvessel counts and tumor-infiltrating macrophage counts by immunohistochemical staining. Results: There was no difference in in vitro proliferation between MCP-1 -transfected TMK-1 cells and mock-transfected (control) cells; however, MCP-1 transfectants induced tumor growth in ectopic xenografts and increased turnorigenicity and induced lymph node metastases and ascites in orthotopic xenografts. In both ectopic and orthotopic xenograft models, strong infiltration of macrophages was observed within and around the tumors after implantation of MCP-1 transfectants whereas fewer macrophages were seen after inoculation of control cells. The microvessel density was significantly higher in tumors produced by MCP-1 transfectants than in control tumors. Conclusions: MCP-1 produced by gastric carcinoma cells may regulate angiogenesis via macrophage recruitment. MCP-1 may be a potential target for antiangiogenic therapy for gastric carcinoma.