Cancer micrometastasis relies on the ability of cancer cells to secrete angiogenic modulators, to interact with the vascular endothelium, and to overcome the resistance offered by the endothelial-barrier. Being an essential step prior to metastasis, blockage of micrometastasis can have potential applications in cancer therapy and metastasis prevention. Due to poorly known molecular mechanisms leading to micrometastasis, developing therapeutic strategies to target prostate cancer utilizing drugs that block micrometastasis is far from reality. Here, we demonstrate the potential benefits of simvastatin in the inhibition of prostate cancer micrometastasis and reveal the novel molecular mechanisms underlying this process. First, we showed that simvastatin inhibited the ability of human PC3 prostate cancer cells for transendothelial migration in vitro. Second, our data indicated that simvastatin modulates the expression of tumor-derived factors such as angiopoietins and VEGF-A at the mRNA and protein levels by the PC3 cells, thus preventing endothelial-barrier disruption. Third, simvastatin directly activated endothelial cells and enhances endothelial-barrier resistance. Apart from this, our study revealed that simvastatin-mediated effect on PC3 micrometastasis was mediated through inhibition of integrin αv β3 activity and suppression of interaction between prostate cancer cell integrin αv β3 with endothelial ICAM-1.
Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.