Abstract
Our previous study showed that genetic disruption of nitric oxide (NO) synthase II (NOS II) expression inhibits the metastatic ability of non-immunogenic B16 melanoma cells in syngeneic mice. In the present study, the mechanisms for this metastasis suppression were determined. B16-BL6 and B16-F10 murine melanoma cells were injected i.v. into syngeneic wild-type (NOS II+/+) and NOS II-null (NOS II-/-) C57BL/6 mice. Both melanoma cells produced less and smaller experimental pulmonary metastases in NOS II-/- mice than in NOS II+/+ mice. Moreover, less metastatic pleural effusion was observed in NOS II-/- mice than in NOS II+/+ mice. Immunohistochemical analyses indicated that absence of NOS II expression was correlated with decreased vascular endothelial growth factor expression and tumor-associated vascular formation. After activation with lipopolysaccharide and IFN-γ, neither melanoma cell line produced detectable levels of NO. Our data demonstrate that tumor-induced expression of host NOS II enhances melanoma metastasis and pleural effusion, at least in part, through regulation of vascular formation and vascular permeability.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 607-611 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | International journal of cancer |
Volume | 91 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2001 |
Keywords
- Angiogenesis
- Metastasis melanoma
- Nitric oxide
- Pleural effusion
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research