Caractérisation d’endocan murin : dualité fonctionnelle pro- ou anti-tumorale de l’endocan selon son statut de glycosylation. Etude des mécanismes d’action anti-tumorale

摘要

Solid tumor requires a supply of oxygen and nutrients for growth but also for metastasizing to another organ. Tumor angiogenesis is the phenomenon exploited by tumor to fulfill these needs. The"Tip cells" located at the end of sprouting capillaries initiate and guide the growth of neovessels. These cells are currently considered as an important therapeutic target for anti-angiogenic drugs. Many studies have identified a cluster of molecular markers selectively expressed by the "Tip cells." One of these markers called “endocan”, has represented the subject of the thesis work.Endocan is a circulating proteoglycan overexpressed in many human carcinomas, and expression is often associated with poor prognosis. It is suspected to play an important role in tumor development. Through its glycan chain, endocan modulates the effect of growth factors, and also the migration of endothelial cells. My thesis work has focused on the biochemical and functional characterization of mouse endocan in order to obtain a useful animal model for better understanding of the pro tumoral activity of human endocan. The work presented in this manuscript shows that mouse endocan is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan but much less glycanated than human endocan. Our data indicate that combinatorial distant domains from the O-glycanation site, located within exons 1 and 2 determine the glycanation pattern of endocan. In SCID mouse model of tumor xenograft we demonstrated that mouse endocan does not exhibit a pro tumoral activity. In opposite to the human homologue, overexpression of mouse endocan in HT-29 cells delayed the tumor appearance and reduced the tumor growth rate. This tumor growth inhibition was mostly supported by non glycanated mouse endocan. Unexpectedly, human non glycanated endocan overexpressed in HT-29, A549, or K1000 cells also delayed the tumor appearance and reduced the tumor growth. Moreover, systemic delivery of human non glycanated endocan also reproduced HT-29 tumor delay. In vitro, endocan polypeptide did not affect HT-29 cell proliferation, nor cell viability.Interestingly, a stromal inflammatory reaction was observed only in tumors overexpressing endocan polypeptide. In addition, depletion of CD122+ cells was able to delete partially the tumor delaying effect of endocan polypeptide. These results reveal a novel pathway for endocan in the control of tumor growth, which involves innate immune cells.