Abstract. We report an essential role for the ras-

Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) counteracts the physiological epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process that is indicative of epithelial plasticity. Because EMT is involved in cancer, we investigated whether BMP7 plays a role in breast cancer growth and metastasis. In this study, we show that decreased BMP7 expression in primary breast cancer is significantly associated with the formation of clinically overt bone metastases in patients with z10 years of follow-up. In line with these clinical observations, BMP7 expression is inversely related to tumorigenicity and invasive behavior of human breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, BMP7 decreased the expression of vimentin, a mesenchymal marker associated with invasiveness and poor prognosis, in human MDA-MB-231 (MDA-231)-B/Luc + breast cancer cells under basal and transforming growth factor-B (TGF-B)-stimulated conditions. In addition, exogenous addition of BMP7 to TGF-B-stimulated MDA-231 cells inhibited Smad-mediated TGF-B signaling. Furthermore, in a well-established bone metastasis model using whole-body bioluminescent reporter imaging, stable overexpression of BMP7 in MDA-231 cells inhibited de novo formation and progression of osteolytic bone metastases and, hence, their metastatic capability. In line with these observations, daily i.v. administration of BMP7 (100 Mg/kg/d) significantly inhibited orthotopic and intrabone growth of MDA-231-B/Luc + cells in nude mice. Our data suggest that decreased BMP7 expression during carcinogenesis in the human breast contributes to the acquisition of a bone metastatic phenotype. Because exogenous BMP7 can still counteract the breast cancer growth at the primary site and in bone, BMP7 may represent a novel therapeutic molecule for repression of local and bone metastatic growth of breast cancer. [Cancer Res 2007;67(18):8742-51]

Bone morphogenic protein 7 (BMP7) counteracts physiological epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a process that is indicative of epithelial plasticity. Because epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is involved in cancer, we investigated whether BMP7 plays a role in prostate cancer growth and metastasis. BMP7 expression in laser-microdissected primary human prostate cancer tissue was strongly down-regulated compared with normal prostate luminal epithelium. Furthermore, BMP7 expression in prostate cancer cell lines was inversely related to tumorigenic and metastatic potential in vivo and significantly correlated to E-cadherin/vimentin ratios. Exogenous addition of BMP7 to human prostate cancer cells dose-dependently inhibited transforming growth factor ␤-induced activation of nuclear Smad3/4 complexes via ALK5 and induced E-cadherin expression. Moreover, BMP7-induced activation of nuclear Smad1/4/5 signaling transduced via BMP type I receptors was synergistically stimulated in the presence of transforming growth factor ␤, a growth factor that is enriched in the bone microenvironment. Daily BMP7 administration to nude mice inhibited the growth of cancer cells in bone. In contrast, no significant growth inhibitory effect of BMP7 was observed in intraprostatic xenografts. Collectively, our observations suggest that BMP7 controls and preserves the epithelial phenotype

Prostate and mammary cancer are among the leading cancers diagnosed and the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women, respectively.1 Both cancers show a high propensity to metastasize to bone. Whereas prostate cancer (CaP) elicits predominantly an osteoblast response resulting in osteosclerotic lesions, mammary cancer (CaM) triggers preferentially an osteoclast reaction with bone resorption and consequent osteolytic lesions.2 Osteolytic and osteosclerotic lesions are prone to pathological fractures. A better understanding of the mechanism(s) determining the osteoclast and osteoblast response to cancer metastases is essential for the identification of therapeutic strategies for prevention of pathological bone fractures in cancer patients.Several factors stimulating osteoblast proliferation and differentiation in a paracrine manner have been shown to be released by CaP and CaM cells in the bone microenvironment and have been postulated to mediate osteoblast response in bone metastasis. 3,4 Factors that modulate proliferation and differentiation can act directly on the osteoblast progenitors or indirectly by activation of factors involved in their generation. 4 Paradigmatic molecules regulating directly osteoblast generation are the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs).5 BMPs were first identified by their ability to induce ectopic chondro-osteogenesis in vivo. 6 They play a crucial role in skeletal and joint morphogenesis, bone

Synthetic peptides of the putative effector domain of members of the ras‐related rab gene family of small GTP‐binding proteins were synthesized and found to be potent inhibitors of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi and intra‐Golgi transport in vitro. Inhibition of transport by one of the effector domain peptides was rapid (t1/2 of 30 s), and irreversible. Analysis of the temporal site of peptide inhibition indicated that a late step in transport was blocked, coincident with a Ca2(+)‐dependent prefusion step. The results provide novel biochemical evidence for the role of members of the rab gene family in vesicular transport in mammalian cells, and implicate a role for a new downstream Rab effector protein (REP) regulating vesicle fusion.