TY - JOUR A1 - Carpinteiro, Alexander A1 - Becker, Katrin Anne A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Hessler, Gabriele A1 - Keitsch, Simone A1 - Pozgajova, Miroslava A1 - Schmid, Kurt W. A1 - Adams, Constantin A1 - Müller, Stefan A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard A1 - Edwards, Michael J. A1 - Grassme, Heike A1 - Helfrich, Iris A1 - Gulbins, Erich T1 - Regulation of hematogenous tumor metastasis by acid sphingomyelinase JF - EMBO molecular medicine N2 - Metastatic dissemination of cancer cells is the ultimate hallmark of malignancy and accounts for approximately 90% of human cancer deaths. We investigated the role of acid sphingomyelinase (Asm) in the hematogenous metastasis of melanoma cells. Intravenous injection of B16F10 melanoma cells into wild-type mice resulted in multiple lung metastases, while Asm-deficient mice (Smpd1(-/-) mice) were protected from pulmonary tumor spread. Transplanting wild-type platelets into Asm-deficient mice reinstated tumor metastasis. Likewise, Asm-deficient mice were protected from hematogenous MT/ret melanoma metastasis to the spleen in a mouse model of spontaneous tumor metastasis. Human and mouse melanoma cells triggered activation and release of platelet secretory Asm, in turn leading to ceramide formation, clustering, and activation of 51 integrins on melanoma cells finally leading to adhesion of the tumor cells. Clustering of integrins by applying purified Asm or C-16 ceramide to B16F10 melanoma cells before intravenous injection restored trapping of tumor cells in the lung in Asm-deficient mice. This effect was revertable by arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptides, which are known inhibitors of integrins, and by antibodies neutralizing 1 integrins. These findings indicate that melanoma cells employ platelet-derived Asm for adhesion and metastasis. KW - acid sphingomyelinase KW - ceramide KW - integrins KW - platelets KW - tumor-metastasis Y1 - 2015 SN - 1757-4676 SN - 1757-4684 VL - 7 IS - 6 SP - 714 EP - 734 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -