Late stage inhibition of hematogenous melanoma metastasis by cystatin C over-expression

BACKGROUND: Tumor metastasis is a frequent cause of treatment failure for cancer patients. A key feature of metastatic cancer cells is their invasive ability. Cysteine proteases contribute to invasive properties of many cancer cell types. To analyze the contribution of cysteine proteases to metastasis we have over-expressed in B16 melanoma cells the natural cysteine protease inhibitor, cystatin C. We measured in vitro invasion of cystatin over-expression clones with Boyden chamber type assays. Tail-vein injections of cells were used to compare lung tumor colonization. Subcutaneous tumor growth and tumor cell metastasis from primary tumors were also analyzed. Apoptosis of tumor cells was measured in lung tissues following melanoma cell injection. RESULTS: Results show the in vitro invasion of cystatin C over-expressing cells was dramatically inhibited. Lung tumor colonization was also reduced. Increased tumor cell apoptosis was found to be an important factor and may be related to the reduced tumor burden noted in this system of melanoma metastasis. CONCLUSION: Cysteine proteases therefore, may be a target for future anti-metastatic therapies.