Mesenchymal stromal cells orchestrate follicular lymphoma cell niche through the CCL2-dependent recruitment and polarization of monocytes

Blood. 2012 Mar 15;119(11):2556-67. doi: 10.1182/blood-2011-08-370908. Epub 2012 Jan 30.

Abstract

Accumulating evidence indicates that infiltrating stromal cells contribute directly and indirectly to tumor growth in a wide range of cancers. In follicular lymphoma (FL), malignant B cells are found admixed with heterogeneous lymphoid-like stromal cells within invaded lymph nodes and BM. In addition, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) support in vitro FL B-cell survival, in particular after their engagement toward lymphoid differentiation. We show here that BM-MSCs obtained from patients with FL (FL-MSCs) display a specific gene expression profile compared with MSCs obtained from healthy age-matched donors (HD-MSCs). This FL-MSC signature is significantly enriched for genes associated with a lymphoid-like commitment. Interestingly, CCL2 could be detected at a high level within the FL-cell niche, is up-regulated in HD-MSCs by coculture with malignant B cells, and is overexpressed by FL-MSCs, in agreement with their capacity to recruit monocytes more efficiently than HD-MSCs. Moreover, FL-MSCs and macrophages cooperate to sustain malignant B-cell growth, whereas FL-MSCs drive monocyte differentiation toward a proangiogenic and lipopolysaccharide-unresponsive phenotype close to that of tumor-associated macrophages. Altogether, these results highlight the complex role of FL stromal cells that promote direct tumor B-cell growth and orchestrate FL-cell niche, thus emerging as a potential therapeutic target in this disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • B-Lymphocytes / cytology
  • B-Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Movement
  • Cell Polarity / physiology*
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chemokine CCL2 / genetics
  • Chemokine CCL2 / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Lymphoma, Follicular / etiology
  • Lymphoma, Follicular / metabolism
  • Lymphoma, Follicular / pathology*
  • Male
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Middle Aged
  • Monocytes / cytology*
  • Monocytes / metabolism
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Stromal Cells / cytology*
  • Stromal Cells / metabolism

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CCL2 protein, human
  • Chemokine CCL2
  • RNA, Messenger