ANGPTL4 is a secreted tumor suppressor that inhibits angiogenesis

Oncogene. 2014 Apr 24;33(17):2273-8. doi: 10.1038/onc.2013.174. Epub 2013 May 20.

Abstract

Tumor suppressors with extracellular function are likely to have advantages as targets for cancer therapy, but few are known. Here, we focused on angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4), which is a secreted glycoprotein involved in lipoprotein metabolism and angiogenesis, is methylation-silenced in human cancers, but has unclear roles in cancer development and progression. We found a deletion mutation in its coiled-coil domain at its N-terminal in human gastric cancers, in addition to hypermethylation of the ANGPTL4 promoter CpG islands. Forced expression of wild-type ANGPTL4, but not ANGPTL4 with the deletion, at physiological levels markedly suppressed in vivo tumorigenicity and tumor angiogenesis, indicating that the latter caused the former. Tumor-derived ANGPTL4 suppressed in vitro vascular tube formation and proliferation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells, partly due to suppression of ERK signaling. These showed that ANGPTL4 is a genetically and epigenetically inactivated secreted tumor suppressor that inhibits tumor angiogenesis.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4
  • Angiopoietins / genetics*
  • Angiopoietins / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Case-Control Studies
  • CpG Islands
  • DNA Methylation
  • Epigenesis, Genetic
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neoplasm Transplantation
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / metabolism*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sequence Deletion
  • Stomach Neoplasms / blood supply
  • Stomach Neoplasms / genetics
  • Stomach Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • ANGPTL4 protein, human
  • Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4
  • Angiopoietins
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins