Metabolism of
sphingolipids into downstream
lipid mediators followed by signaling modulates tumor microenvironment and the
cancer cells to influence
tumor progression. As such,
sphingolipid signaling represents a novel way to modulate
tumor biology.
Neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial solid
tumor of childhood, is highly angiogenic and often displays poor prognosis. However, the role of
sphingolipid mediators is not known in NB. We found that NB expresses high levels of
sphingosine kinase-2, which is essential for the formation of
sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P induced
VEGF expression in SK-N-AS NB cells. The effect occurred at the transcriptional level.
Hypoxia in combination with S1P had a synergistic effect on
VEGF expression. Strong correlation was detected between S1P receptor-2 (S1P(2)) and
VEGF mRNAs in 11 different cell lines and 17 NB tissues. Blockade of S1P(2) with the selective antagonist
JTE-013 significantly inhibited S1P-induced
VEGF expression. Overexpression and knockdown of S1P(2) in SK-N-AS cells increased or inhibited S1P-induced
VEGF secretion, respectively. Interestingly,
JTE-013 significantly inhibited
tumor growth,
VEGF mRNA expression, and induced apoptosis in the NB
tumor xenografts. Taken together, our data suggest that enhanced formation of
sphingolipid mediator S1P in NB profoundly influences tumor microenvironment by inducing
VEGF expression via S1P(2). Modulation of
sphingolipid signaling by inhibiting S1P(2) may constitute a novel strategy to control NB.