Abstract 4990: Regenerative origin of colorectal metastasis stem cells
Authors: Ganesh Karuna , Basnet Harihar , O'Rourke Kevin P. , Laughney Ashley M. , He Lan , Batlle Eduard , Lowe Scott W. , Pe'er Dana , Shia Jinru , Massague Joan 
Published: August 2018

Metastatic cancers invariably relapse due to the emergence of resistant tumor clones capable of self-renewal, entry into and exit from quiescence, tumor re-initiation and therapy resistance. The origins of such metastasis propagating cells (MPCs), which ultimately cause cancer death, are not well-understood.

To directly scrutinize MPCs in patient metastases, we established ex vivo organoid cultures from surgically resected, chemoresistant residual colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastases. We show that the neuronal cell-adhesion molecule L1CAM, which is ectopically expressed in many cancer types and strongly associated with poor prognosis, is a marker of MPCs. L1CAM+ cells are largely quiescent in structured neoplastic glands in tumors, but when dissociated from their epithelial niche, proliferate to regenerate heterogeneous organoids or xenografts containing both L1CAM+ and L1CAM- progeny.

To define the relationship between L1CAM+ MPCs and Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells, we performed single cell mRNA sequencing on ~15,000 CRC organoid-derived cells from four patients. We identified only partial overlap between Lgr5+ and L1CAM+ cells. Lgr5high cells consistent with homeostatic stem cells, have low L1CAM levels, while Lgr5low transit amplifying progenitor-like cells have high L1CAM levels. In addition, we identify a separate population of L1CAMhighLgr5- cells. The data suggest that human CRC metastases are derived from an L1CAM+ population of transit-amplifying, partially differentiated cells.

L1CAM is not expressed in intact human or mouse intestinal crypts during homeostasis. However, when the intestinal epithelium is disrupted by dextran sodium sulfate-mediated colitis, L1CAM is strongly induced in cells in the middle of regenerating crypts. Intestinal epithelium specific deletion of L1CAM causes profound weight loss, poor tissue healing and reduces survival in DSS-treated mice. In turn, L1CAM knockdown/knockout in mouse or human CRC cells inhibits regeneration of organoids in vitro, subcutaneous tumors and orthotopic liver metastases in vivo. Mechanistically, L1CAM RNA expression is normally silenced in non-neuronal cells by the transcriptional repressor REST. We show that disruption of epithelial integrity by organoid dissociation or E-cadherin knockdown reduces REST binding to an L1CAM intronic enhancer, thus inducing L1CAM expression.

Our results suggest that L1CAM is dispensable for epithelial homeostasis, but is required for normal and neoplastic epithelial regeneration when tissue integrity is disrupted. During cancer progression, disseminated tumor cells at the invasion front of primary tumors, in the circulation, or in isolated residual disease following therapy, induce and depend on L1CAM for survival and eventual regrowth. Thus, L1CAM represents a crucial vulnerability of disseminated and residual MPCs that could be exploited therapeutically to treat patients with metastatic cancer.

Citation Format: Karuna Ganesh, Harihar Basnet, Kevin P. O'Rourke, Ashley M. Laughney, Lan He, Eduard Batlle, Scott W. Lowe, Dana Pe'er, Jinru Shia, Joan Massague. Regenerative origin of colorectal metastasis stem cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4990.