Background
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in childhood [
1]. The current standard of care consists of multimodal age- and stage-adapted therapy including surgical resection, irradiation and chemotherapy. The approach significantly increased survival rates over the last decades, but a subset of tumors with a still devastating prognosis remains. These aggressive tumors do not respond even to high intensity treatment regimens [
2]. Indicators of poor prognosis are large cell/anaplastic (LCA) histology [
3‐
6], metastasis [
7,
8],
MYC amplification [
3‐
5,
8‐
10],
TP53 alteration [
11,
12] and gain of chromosome 17q [
9].
Gene expression analysis clearly defines molecular subgroups with distinct biological characteristics. These subgroups differ in their cellular origins, activation pathways and clinical/pathological characteristics [
13‐
17]. Therefore medulloblastoma cannot be considered as one single disease entity. There is a consensus that four different main molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma exist: WNT, SHH, Group 3 and Group 4 [
18]. For WNT and SHH the driving pathways are known and well-validated mouse models are established [
18‐
22]. For Group 3 and 4 tumors data are more limited, also due to the lack of appropriate animal models. As Group 3 tumors have the worst prognosis among the identified subgroups, there is a clear need for reliable tumor models. This subgroup of medulloblastoma almost only occurs in infants and children, particularly in males [
23,
24]. Furthermore, it is marked by an extremely high dissemination tendency into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Genetic alterations are found frequently, such as gain of chromosome 17q and amplification of the
MYC oncogene. In fact, in most cases amplification of the
MYC oncogene seems to be restricted to this group and associated with poor clinical outcome [
18,
23,
24]. Two recent studies focus on syngenic mouse models engineering Myc-overexpressing cerebellar cells [
25,
26]. Pei et al. introduced
Myc into CD133
+ cells of the cerebellar white matter and Kawauchi et al. into granule neuron precursors. In combination with p53 blockade both models led to the formation of highly aggressive medulloblastomas recapitulating human
MYC-driven Group 3 medulloblastoma. Furthermore Stearns et al. evaluated xenograft models of the medulloblastoma cell lines DAOY and UW228, demonstrating that Myc overexpression was required to achieve tumor engraftment of UW228 cells which was linked to anaplastic histology [
27]. Two other groups also established murine medulloblastoma models with anaplastic characteristics, but in these tumors overexpression of MYCN is a key characteristic [
28,
29].
The cancer stem cell hypothesis suggests that within one tumor a hierarchy of tumor cells exist: most cancerous cells will not have the propensity to create new tumors by themselves, whereas the few tumor-initiating cells are the founding cells of an arising tumor. These undifferentiated self-renewing cells are the propagating pool responsible for tumor growth [
30]. Cancer stem cells (CSC) seem to be a major cause for tumor aggressiveness and relapse because of their high radio- and chemoresistance [
31,
32]. Therefore studying this cell population could be a reasonable and promising approach for the understanding of tumor pathogenesis and for the development of new therapies [
33,
34].
For medulloblastoma several lines of evidence support the CSC hypothesis [
33‐
36]. Although questions about the frequency of such cells, their origin and the exact phenotypical and functional characteristics remain. Experimentally the capacity to exactly recapitulate the original tumor architecture in xenograft models, with tumors arising from very few cells, is a strong indicator of CSC properties [
37]. Clinically the role of these aggressive cells, e.g. with regard to metastasis, is even less clear.
Here we describe a case of a Group 3 medulloblastoma with an unusual clinical occurrence of extracranial metastasis of tumor cells displaying predominantly CSC characteristics. When transplanted as an orthotopic murine xenograft this anaplastic medulloblastoma demonstrates many characteristics reported for CSC as well as for the highly aggressive Group 3 medulloblastoma.
Methods
Clinical case
Diagnostics and treatment of the patient were conducted at the University Hospital of Würzburg according to HIT 2000 and HIT-Rez 2005 trial of the German Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology. These therapeutic multi-center studies had been approved by the local ethical committee of the University Hospital Würzburg and Bonn (No. 73/00 (Würzburg) for HIT 2000 and No. 105/05 (Bonn) for HIT-Rez 2005) and include terms regarding the use of tumor material for additional studies. The guardians provided written consent for participation of their child on the clinical study. The patient’s parents consented in writing to the analysis of the tumor cells based on an individual decision due to the exceptional clinical course, which is in file along with the medical case documentation. This written consent includes extensive characterization, culture and storage of the tumor cells and establishment of a stable tumor cell line. It also includes genetic characterization and genetic alteration (such as lentiviral transduction) and use of the tumor cells in animal models.
Tumor cell isolation and cell culture
Tumor cells from the malignant pleural effusions were isolated by performing a Ficoll gradient. Cells were directly propagated using DMEM (GIBCO) supplemented with 10 % foetal bovine serum (PAA), 40 U/ml penicillin (PAA) and 40 μg/ml streptomycin (PAA) for 4 days. After that time point cells were transferred into serum-free DMEM/F12 (GIBCO) containing 20 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), (PEPROTECH), 20 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF), (PEPROTECH), 2 % B-27 supplement (GIBCO), 1 % MEM Vitamins (GIBCO), 40 U/ml penicillin (PAA) and 40 μg/ml streptomycin (PAA) and long-term cultured under that conditions. For differentiation, cells were again cultured in serum-containing medium.
Tumor cell lines
For comparative assays, we used the following tumor cell lines: The glioblastoma cell lines R11 and R28 have been described to have CSC characteristics and were kindly provided by Drs. Beier D and Beier CP (University of Regensburg, now Odense, Denmark). The melanoma cell line FM88 was kindly provided by Dr. Becker C (now University of Essen). MCF7 is a breast carcinoma cell line, kindly provided by Dr. Wischhusen J (University Hospital of Würzburg). U251 and U373 are glioma cell lines, kindly provided by Dr. Hagemann (University Hospital of Würzburg).
Proliferation assay
Single tumor cells from in serum-free medium cultured neurospheres or from the adherent phase of in serum-containing medium cultured cells were obtained by mechanical dissociation or enzymatic detachment. Triplicates of viable cells were plated in 24 well microplates at densities of 2 × 105 cells/well and propagated in 1 ml/well. After 3 days fresh medium was added. Either serum-containing medium or serum-free medium was used. Every day a triplicate of wells was counted to examine cell proliferation.
Flow cytometry
Cells were mechanically dissociated to obtain single cell suspensions. After centrifugation cells were resuspended in CliniMACS PBS/EDTA buffer (Miltenyi Biotec) with 0,5 % human serum (PAA). Before staining with fluorochrome conjugated antibodies, Fc receptors were blocked with FcR Blocking Reagent (Miltenyi Biotec). Antibody staining was conducted with CD133/1 and CD133/2 (Miltenyi Biotec, clones AC133 and 293C3) and anti-CD15-antibody (BD, clone MMA) according to the manufacturer’s protocols. Acquisition was performed on a FACS Canto II (BD Biosciences). Dead cells were excluded by 7-AAD (BD Biosciences) staining. Expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) was examined using the ALDEFLUOR kit (STEMCELL Technologies) according to the manufacturer’s protocol.
Magnetic activated cell sorting
Cells were sorted for CD133/1 expression using the CD133 MicroBead Kit (Miltenyi Biotec). First cells were mechanically dissociated and centrifuged. After resuspension in 300 μl CliniMACS PBS/EDTA buffer with 0.5 % human serum, 100 μl FcR Blocking Reagent and next 100 μl CD133/1 MicroBeads were added. Cells were incubated for 30 min at 4 °C and another 5 min after addition of 50 μl of CD133/2 (Miltenyi Biotec). Next cells were washed and separated using MACS LS columns (Miltenyi Biotec). To achieve higher purities two additional consecutive column runs were performed.
Lentiviral transduction
Cells were lentivirally transduced with a vector encoding firefly luciferase (FLuc) and enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as described previously [
38]. Transduced cells were enriched by sorting for eGFP expression.
Animals and orthotopic xenotransplantation
Permission for animal experiments were obtained from the institutional animal care committee for the University Hospital Würzburg. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with national guidelines and regulations and with approval of the district government. Female NOD.CB17-Prkdc
scid
/J (NOD/SCID) mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory and housed under specific pathogen free conditions. Single cell suspensions were prepared either by mechanical disruption or enzymatical detachment, where necessary. Cell numbers were adjusted in culture medium by serial dilution, calculated for an inoculation volume of 3 μl. Cells were orthotopically injected into the brains of 10–13 week-old anesthetized NOD/SCID mice using a stereotaxic instrument (David Kopf Instruments) and a Hamilton syringe with a 26 G needle (Hamilton Company), injecting at defined coordinates: two injection sites were evaluated: for supratentorial inoculation cells were injected in the dorsolateral thalamus, for infratentorial inoculation cells were injected in the right cerebellum. Subsequently, mice were checked daily using bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Survival was defined as the time from transplantation until an early humane endpoint when mice were sacrificed because they showed first symptoms of disease.
In vivo BLI
Mice were injected intraperitoneally with a mixture of esketamine (80 mg/kg, Pfizer), xylazine (16 mg/kg, CP-Pharma) and D-luciferin (300 mg/kg, Biosynth). 10 min after injection animals were imaged using an IVIS Spectrum imaging system as previously described (Caliper Life Sciences) [
39]. Imaging data were analyzed with Living Image 4.0 (Caliper-Xenogen) and Prism 5 software (GraphPad).
Cytogenetic analysis
Cell cycle arrest was induced by Colcemid (GIBCO). Cells were treated with 0.075 M KCl and fixed in 3:1 alcohol:acetic acid. For karyotyping cells were dried on glass slides and then incubated in 500 μg/ml trypsin (SERVA) for 20 s and subsequently stained in 5 % Giemsa solution for 6 min. For FISH analysis the Vysis LSI MYC/CEP 8 probes, the PathVysion HER-2 DNA and the Vysis MYC Break Apart Rearrangement FISH Probe Kits (Abbott Molecular) according to the manufacturer’s protocols were used: After FISH probes were added, specimens were heat denaturated and incubated at 37 °C over night for hybridization of FISH probes with DNA. Specimens were then washed and mounted with VECTASHIELD Mounting Medium with DAPI (Vector). For visualization the Ikaros and Isis systems (MetaSystems) were used.
Nanostring analysis
Nanostring analysis was performed on RNA extracted from an early and late passage of the MB3W1 cells according to the methods recently described [
40]. Heatmaps were created using the GenePattern software.
Histopathology and immunohistochemistry
Brains of sacrificed mice were immediately formaldehyde (MERCK) fixed and paraffin (Leica Biosystems) embedded. Specimens were sectioned at a thickness of 3 μm. Histopathology was evaluated by staining sections with a standard Hematoxylin Eosin (HE) protocol. Cytospin preparations were performed at 55 g for 5 min and stained with Pappenheim or HE solutions.
For immunohistochemistry antigen retrieval was conducted with heat induced epitope retrieval using citrate buffer at pH 6.0 (almost all stainings) or with Tris/EDTA buffer at pH 9.0 (CD133 staining). Incubation with the following primary antibodies was performed over night at 4 °C: ßIII-Tubulin (Abcam, ab18207; 1:500), CD99 (DAKO, clone 12E7; 1:200), CD133/1 (Miltenyi, clone AC133; 1:40), GFAP (Millipore, AB5804; 1:6000), INI-1 (BD, clone 25/BAF47; 1:100), Ki-67 (dianova, M501; 1:80), Nestin (Millipore, clone 10C2 1:200), Olig2 (LINARIS, BHU0409, 1:100), p53 (DAKO, clone DO-7; 1:100), Synaptophysin (DAKO, clone SY38; 1:80) and Vimentin (DAKO, clone V9; 1:4000). Immunodetection was performed with the MultiLink HRP kit (BioGenex) and DAB (Dako). Specific antigen recognition was tested by using positive and negative controls.
For immunohistochemical analysis of cytospins the APAAP method was used as a standard method. Briefly, cells were spun onto glas slides and fixed with methanol-acetone. After washing in TRIS-buffer, CD133/1 (Miltenyi, clone AC133) was added onto the slides. Staining control consisted of samples stained with the same procedure, but omitting the primary antibody. After 30 min of incubation at room temperature (RT), slides were washed and incubated with the secondary reagent (rabbit-anti-mouse-antibody, DAKO) for 30 min at RT. After additional washing the APAAP-immunocomplex (tertiary reagent, DAKO) was added for 30 min at, followed by additional wash-steps and incubation with APAAP-reaction solution for 30 min at RT (on a shaker). After additional washing steps, slides were incubated with Haemalaun solution for 2 min, before the slides were finally washed and covered with glass cover slips.
Discussion
We here established a xenograft model for anaplastic medulloblastoma with a molecular Group 3 signature, which clinically has a very poor prognosis [
18]. Therefore there is a clear need for additional animal models to study this tumor subgroup [
64]. Only recently two groups established syngenic mouse models by genetically interfering with the
MYC and
TP53 pathways, that mimic Group 3 characteristics. Pei et al. and Kawauchi et al. both introduced
Myc into murine cerebellar cells by genetic engineering, which, in combination with p53 blockade (either by introducing dominant negative p53 into CD133
+ cells of the cerebellar white matter or by using
Trp53 null granule neuron precursors) led to the formation of medulloblastomas resembling the Group 3 subtype [
25,
26]. Our model is complementary to this work, as it recapitulates the orthotopic growth of highly aggressive human medulloblastoma without additional genetic engineering. The only modification of the tumor cells has been transduction with FLuc and eGFP for better monitoring. This modification does not change the biologic behavior of the cells, as in vitro growth (not shown) and survival of mice were identical. Milde et al. recently described a human Group 3 cell line, HD-MB03, focusing on the impact of HDAC-inhibitors as a potential treatment option [
65]. In an evaluation of established long-term cultured cell lines, Shu et al. reported on good in vivo growth characteristics of D283-MED, a medulloblastoma cell line, that has some characteristics, albeit not complete congruency, of a Group 3 tumor cell line [
66,
67]. Mastronuzzi et al. recently reported on a similar case of anaplastic medulloblastoma with metastasis to the scalp, also displaying some features of CSC in their in vitro evaluation [
68]. Taken together, these unmodified human tumor models will advance the field of medulloblastoma research especially with respect to the dismal Group 3 tumors: a comprehensive analysis of the available Group 3 cell lines, HD-MB03 and MB3W1, plus potentially D283-Med, may lead to urgently needed new treatment strategies for this tumor type.
Further studies are necessary to determine whether this tumor model can also be used to study the mechanisms leading to metastasis: the data presented here suggest that metastasis into the CSF is characteristic for these cells once the tumor reaches a certain size. However there remains a slight chance of a potential contamination during the injection process. On the other hand, the dynamics of metastasis and our comparison to other transplanted tumor models strongly argue for spontaneous dissemination of the tumor cells. If so, this model will be extremely valuable to assess the effect of drugs targeting exactly this process of dissemination or to analyze the pathways leading to this malignant spreading.
What is the originating cell of MB3W1 cells? Much is known about the cells of origin and the driving pathways of WNT and SHH medulloblastomas, but Group 3 tumors are less well characterized [
18‐
22]. Apparently cells of different brain compartments could lead to a Group 3 medulloblastoma as suggested by the two recently published murine models. Importantly, MB3W1 cells also display several characteristics of CSC, as described earlier for many tumor types [
69]. The fact that xenotransplanted MB3W1 cells engrafted to 100 % with tumors exactly recapitulating the original tumor architecture, display functional characteristics such as high ALDH activity, neurosphere formation and exponential long-term proliferation all argue for stem-cell like properties [
42,
48‐
51]. The expression of markers such as CD133 and CD15 also is suggestive for stem-cell like properties, although CD133 expression alone does not define this distinct population. This is in line with work from different groups, indicating that CD133
− tumor cells may also have CSC capacities [
41,
44].
Extracranial metastasis in medulloblastoma is a relatively rare event. In the aforementioned case report, medulloblastoma metastasis in the scalp was observed and these cells also contained features of CSC [
68]. The increase in CD133+ cells in in the pleural effusion in our patient, as well as the detection of CD133+ cells in the metastasis of this other report, may argue for a role of stem cell activity in the pathology of metastasis. It is unlikely, that the ventriculoperitoneal shunt facilitated the spread in our patient, as, despite pleural effusions, there was no documented peritoneal spread. As this is a singular case, we cannot determine whether CD133+ expression (and CSC-capacities) is the cause for progression and pleural spread or just coincidental. However the enrichment in the pleural effusions is indicative of biologically aggressive behavior of cells with this phenotype. Analysis in larger patient cohorts is necessary to potentially link this phenotype to clinical outcome.
Thus we conclude that the cells from which the MB3W1 cell line originated must have had the capacity to: 1) withstand chemo- and radiotherapy, 2) retain the molecular/histochemical characteristics as a highly aggressive, tumor initiating cell and 3) may have selectively crossed the blood-brain barrier, albeit in the context of a heavily pretreated patient, to disseminate to the pleura.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
SD, SSch, SD, SR, AB, CMM, AR, ME, GHV, DP, PGS and MW designed, performed and analyzed in vitro and in vivo experiments. VR, MDT and MR performed the nanostring analysis. FD, SR, AOvB, JK and TS were crucial in preserving tumor tissue. FD, SR, AOvB, TS, JK and PGS were closely involved with the care for this patient. SD and MW wrote the manuscript. All authors read the manuscript and contributed to the final version.