The actin modulator hMENA regulates GAS6-AXL axis and pro-tumor cancer/stromal cell cooperation (2020)
Figure 5

Figure 5. High hMENA∆v6 CAFs secrete GAS6 required for cancer cell invasion

A. Heat map of proteins identified by LC-MS/MS analysis as differentially secreted in CM of normal fibroblasts (P-NF#1 and P-NF#2), CAFs with low level of hMENA∆v6 expression (P-CAFs low#44 and #49), CAFs with high level of hMENA∆v6 expression (P-CAFs high #67 and #36).

The boxed hMENA∆v6 associated signature represents proteins exclusively present in the CM derived from CAFs high. Color code is shown in the upper left corner. Co-variance = 0.2, q value = 0.1 (10% false discovery rate), adjusted P value = 0.0074542. N = 36. The values of mass spec identified for each protein were plotted in log2 scale.

B. Quantification of GAS6 secretion levels, as detected by ELISA, in the CM of P-NF (#1), P-CAFlow (#44 and #49) and P-CAF high (#67 and #36). Data are presented as the mean ± SD of two biological replicates. Statistical analysis was performed with one-way ANOVA P<0.0001, followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison test. ***P<0.001.

C. Real time qRT-PCR analysis of the relative GAS6 mRNA expression level in NFs (P-NF#1), P-CAF low and P-CAF high, as described above. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of three replicates. Statistical analysis was performed with one-way ANOVA P=0.001, followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison test. *P< 0.05, **P<0.01.

D. Real time qRT-PCR analysis of the relative GAS6 mRNA expression level in PANC-1 and P-CAF (n=3), showing a low GAS6 expression in PANC-1 cells. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. P values were calculated by two‐sided Student's t‐test. ***P<0.001.

E. Boxplots showing the mRNA expression of GAS6 in normal lung fibroblasts (white) (n=15) versus primary NSCLC fibroblasts (light blue) (n=15) (GSE22862 data set). In each boxplot the median value (horizontal line), 25th-75th percentiles (box outline), and highest and lowest values within 1.5x of the inter-quartile range (vertical line) are shown. Statistical significance was calculated by Mann-Whitney U-test (two-sided) (P=0.0208).

F, G. Real time qRT-PCR analysis of P#138 CAF (F) and L#189 CAF (G) transfected with control siRNA (siCNT) or hMENA(t) siRNA (sihMENA(t)) as representative cases. The siRNA‐mediated knock‐down of hMENA/hMENA∆v6 resulted in a significant reduction of GAS6 mRNA expression levels compared to siCNT cells (set as 100). Data are presented as the mean ± SD of three replicates. P values were calculated by two‐sided Student's t‐test **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

H. Quantification of matrigel invasion assay of PANC-1 cultured for 48 h with DMEM (culture medium), or conditioned medium (CM) derived from control siRNA P#106 CAFs (siCNT P-CAF-CM), GAS6 siRNA (siGAS6 P-CAF-CM), hMENA(t) siRNA (sihMENA(t) P-CAF-CM), hMENA(t) siRNA plus rGAS6 (sihMENA(t) P-CAF-CM +rGAS6). Number of invaded PANC-1 cells after 48 h of treatment was measured by counting 6 random fields. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of three biological replicates. Statistical analysis was performed with one-way ANOVA P=0.004, followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison test. *P< 0.05, **P<0.01.