Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • ASCI Milestone Awards
    • Video Abstracts
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Clinical innovation and scientific progress in GLP-1 medicine (Nov 2025)
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • ASCI Milestone Awards
  • Video Abstracts
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Sema3E–Plexin D1 signaling drives human cancer cell invasiveness and metastatic spreading in mice
Andrea Casazza, Veronica Finisguerra, Lorena Capparuccia, Andrea Camperi, Jakub M. Swiercz, Sabrina Rizzolio, Charlotte Rolny, Claus Christensen, Andrea Bertotti, Ivana Sarotto, Mauro Risio, Livio Trusolino, Jurgen Weitz, Martin Schneider, Massimilano Mazzone, Paolo M. Comoglio, Luca Tamagnone
Andrea Casazza, Veronica Finisguerra, Lorena Capparuccia, Andrea Camperi, Jakub M. Swiercz, Sabrina Rizzolio, Charlotte Rolny, Claus Christensen, Andrea Bertotti, Ivana Sarotto, Mauro Risio, Livio Trusolino, Jurgen Weitz, Martin Schneider, Massimilano Mazzone, Paolo M. Comoglio, Luca Tamagnone
View: Text | PDF | Corrigendum | Corrigendum
Research Article

Sema3E–Plexin D1 signaling drives human cancer cell invasiveness and metastatic spreading in mice

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Semaphorin 3E (Sema3E) is a secreted molecule implicated in axonal path finding and inhibition of developmental and postischemic angiogenesis. Sema3E is also highly expressed in metastatic cancer cells, but its mechanistic role in tumor progression was not understood. Here we show that expression of Sema3E and its receptor Plexin D1 correlates with the metastatic progression of human tumors. Consistent with the clinical data, knocking down endogenous expression of either Sema3E or Plexin D1 in human metastatic carcinoma cells hampered their metastatic potential when injected into mice, while tumor growth was not markedly affected. Conversely, overexpression of exogenous Sema3E in cancer cells increased their invasiveness, transendothelial migration, and metastatic spreading, although it inhibited tumor vessel formation, resulting in reduced tumor growth in mice. The proinvasive and metastatic activity of Sema3E in tumor cells was dependent on transactivation of the Plexin D1–associated ErbB2/Neu oncogenic kinase. In sum, Sema3E–Plexin D1 signaling in cancer cells is crucially implicated in their metastatic behavior and may therefore be a promising target for strategies aimed at blocking tumor metastasis.

Authors

Andrea Casazza, Veronica Finisguerra, Lorena Capparuccia, Andrea Camperi, Jakub M. Swiercz, Sabrina Rizzolio, Charlotte Rolny, Claus Christensen, Andrea Bertotti, Ivana Sarotto, Mauro Risio, Livio Trusolino, Jurgen Weitz, Martin Schneider, Massimilano Mazzone, Paolo M. Comoglio, Luca Tamagnone

×

Figure 9

ErbB2 kinase is required for p61-dependent promigratory and prometastatic function.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
ErbB2 kinase is required for p61-dependent promigratory and prometastati...
(A) A549 cells were pretreated with 400 nM Lapatinib or 250 nM PHA-665752 for 2 hours and allowed to migrate in a Transwell insert in response to 7 nM p61-Sema3E in presence of the same inhibitors. Migrated cells were quantified by staining with crystal violet (see Methods). Data are given as average ± SD of 2 independent experiments. **P < 0.005. Analogous results were obtained by analyzing MDA-MB-435 and HeLa cancer cells (see Supplemental Figure 11, A and B). (B) A549 cells were transduced to establish an autocrine circuit of p61-Sema3E, fluorescence labeled with CFDA-SE, and injected systemically into mice treated with Lapatinib or vehicle (see Methods). Forty-eight hours after injection, metastatic fluorescent cells in the lungs were quantified (as described in Methods). The graph indicates average values ± SD of 5 mice per each experimental group. **P < 0.003. (C) The expression of ErbB2 (or Met tyrosine kinase as control) was knocked down in A549 tumor cells by RNAi (see Methods) and migration was assayed as above in response to 7 nM p61, 1 nM Hrg-β, or 1 nM HGF. Data are given as average ± SD of 2 independent experiments. Statistical significance was calculated relative to mock-treated cells in each group. *P < 0.05. (D) ErbB2-depleted A549 cells and respective controls were transduced to establish an autocrine circuit of p61-Sema3E (see expression analysis). Tumor cells were labeled with CFDA-SE before intravenous injection into nude mice. The graph shows the number of metastatic cells infiltrating the lungs after 48 hours, quantified as in B (average values ± SD of 5 mice per each experimental group). **P < 0.005. (E) Sema3E-induced migration of A549 cells was assayed as above, in the presence of DMSO (vehicle), or 2 μm U73122 (PLCγ), 10 μm PD98059 (“PD,” MAPK inhibitor), or 10 μm LY294002 (“LY,” PI3K inhibitor). PLCγ close to U73122; (MAPK inhibitor) close to PD98059, and (AKT inhibitor) close to LY294002. Data are given as average ± SD of 2 independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.003.

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts