Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) has been shown to be associated with tumor progression in several human malignant tumors; however, the significance of IGFBP-2 expression in bladder cancer remains poorly defined. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of IGFBP-2 overexpression in human bladder cancer KoTCC-1 cells on their phenotype associated with tumor progression. We introduced IGFBP-2 cDNA into KoTCC-1 cells, which do not express a detectable level of IGFBP-2 protein, thus generating an IGFBP-2 overexpressing cell line (KoTCC-1/BP2). We also generated a vector-only-transfected cell line (KoTCC-1/C) as a control. Despite the absence of a significant difference in in vitro cell growth rates and motilities among KoTCC-1 sublines, KoTCC-1/BP2 exhibited significantly higher invasive ability than KoTCC-1/C. Gelatin zymography showed a marked increase in matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) production by KoTCC-1/BP2 compared with that by KoTCC-1/C. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in sub-cutaneous tumor growth among KoTCC-1 sublines; however, more advanced tumor progression, including lymph node metastasis and hemorrhagic ascites formation, was observed after the implantation of KoTCC-1/BP2 into the bladder wall of nude mice than after the implantation of KoTCC-1/C. These findings suggest that overexpression of IGFBP-2 induces an increase in MMP-2 production, resulting in the enhanced metastatic potential of bladder cancer.

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