Adipocytes promote cholangiocarcinoma metastasis through fatty acid binding protein 4

Abstract

BackgroundThe early occurrence regional nodal and distant metastases cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the major reasons for its poor prognosis. However, the related mechanisms are largely elusive. Recently, increasing evidences indicate that adipocytes might be involved in the proliferation, homing, migration and invasion of several malignancies. In the present study, we attempt to determine the effects and possible mechanisms of adipocytes on regulating progression of CCA.MethodsAdipocyte–CCA cell co-culture system and CCA metastasis mice model were used to determine the effects of adipocytes on CCA metastasis. We identified the biological functions and possible mechanisms of adipocyte-derived fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in regulating the adipocyte-induced CCA metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypes, both in vitro and in vivo.ResultsAdipocyte–CCA cell co-culture promotes the in vitro and in vivo tumor metastasis, leading to increased adipocyte-derived fatty acid absorbance and intracellular lipids of CCA cells, which indicates adipocytes might function as the energy source for CCA progression by providing free fatty acids. Further, highly expressed FABP4 protein was identified in adipose tissues and fully differentiated adipocytes, and upregulated FABP4 was also detected by qRT-PCR assay in CCA cells co-cultivated with adipose extracts as compared to parental CCA cells. The specific FABP4 inhibitor BMS309403 significantly impaired adipocyte-induced CCA metastasis and EMT phenotypes both in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionsTogether, the results demonstrate that the adipocyte-CCA interaction and the energy extraction of CCA cells from adipocytes are crucial for the invasion, migration and EMT of CCA cells. FABP4 from adipocytes mediates these adipocyte-induced variations in CCA cells, which could serve as a potential target for the treatment of CCA.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-017-0641-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Recently, it has been demonstrated that adipocytes contribute to EMT, invasion, proliferation and progression, in several cancer types [83][84][85][86][87]. Nie et al, [88] found that co-culture with adipocytes led CCA cells to express mesenchymal biomarkers overexpression and cell-to-cell adhesion alteration. The acquisition of these mesenchymal markers in CCA cells could be due to adypocite-derived FAs.…”

“…The acquisition of these mesenchymal markers in CCA cells could be due to adypocite-derived FAs. In fact, they showed that the adipocyte-derived FABP4 mediated migration, invasion and lipid accumulation in CCA, by shifting FAs between adipocytes and cancer cells [88].…”

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