Endothelial Cell-Selective Adhesion Molecule Enhances Tumor Growth in a HFpEF Mouse Model

Accumulating epidemiological evidence shows that the incidence of multiple types of cancer, such as melanoma and GI cancers, is significantly higher in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, the mechanistic relationships between HFpEF and cancer development are poorly understood. Impaired angiogenesis, upregulation of endothelial adhesion molecules and chronic low-grade inflammation are common in HFpEF. Here we examined the role of endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM) in the progression of malignant melanoma in a HFpEF mouse model. Orthotopic melanoma xenografts (B16F10-Luc2) were used and implanted subcutaneously in mice underwent uninephrectomy and aldosterone infusion (UNX-Aldo with 1% high salt drinking water for 4 weeks) and tumor growth was monitored with bioluminescent imaging. We found that ESAM expression and serum levels were elevated in the UNX-Aldo mice, which was accompanied by enhanced melanoma growth and metastasis rate. ESAM promoted tube formation and increased phospho-Akt, phospho-PKCα and phospho-ERK1/2 in cultured endothelial cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed elevated number of tumor-associated neutrophils (CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C-) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs, CD11b+F4/80-Gr-1+) in the UNX-Aldo mice. UNX-Aldo mice with genetic deletion of ESAM (ESAM KO) showed a reduced tumor growth and reduced number of tumor-associated neutrophils and MDSCs. Collectively, our results indicate that in HFpEF, a proinflammatory ESAM activation may act to promote tumor angiogenesis, neutrophil and MDSCs tumor infiltration, thereby mitigating a proper immune response and facilitate tumor growth. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.