The clinical history of our OSA-HO case, including blood work results, radiographic findings, and the radiological resolution of HO after metastasectomy, are consistent with the previous studies (2–5). Therefore, it is an archetypical subject of analysis for further understanding the pathophysiology of HO and OSA in dogs. When comparing the gene expression profile of OSA vs. control, 180 genes were identified show significant differential expression. The most upregulated gene was SPP1 (Secreted Phosphoprotein 1), the protein-coding gene for Osteopontin (OPN), a structural protein of bone with extracellular matrix binding and cytokine activities. OPN exerts a regulatory effect in the differentiation of osteoblasts and enhances the metastatic potential of OSA tumoral cells at high levels by activating metalloproteinases (28). OPN also promotes oncogenesis and metastasis by inhibiting apoptosis and stimulating the endurance of tumoral cells and neovascularization (29–31). OPN modulates the immune system and possesses multiple roles in the inflammatory process (29, 32). It serves as a chemotactic molecule to promote the migration of inflammatory cells and regulates dendritic cell responses (29, 33). OPN is currently being studied as a potential cancer biomarker and target for the treatment of cancer (28). CXCL10 encodes for a pro-inflammatory cytokine that binds to the CXCR3 receptor predominantly expressed on immune cells (e.g., lymphocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells). This protein binding results in pleiotropic effects, including alterations of the tumor microenvironment and cytokine storms, as documented in SARS Co V-2 infections (34, 35). The overexpression of CXCL10 has been associated with both antitumoral attributes and disease severity (hematologic and solid) depending on the type of cancer (36, 37). CXCR4 oncogene encodes a chemokine receptor, which activation transduces a signal resulting in modulation of the AKT signaling cascade and MAPK1/MAPK3 activation. High expression of CXCR4 correlated with the evidence of pulmonary metastasis in human OSA; additionally, the CXCR4 ligand, CXCL12, promotes metastasis, angiogenesis, and growth of OSA cells (38–40). Fan et al. has shown that the inhibition of CXCR4 by zoledronate alters the metastatic behavior in canine OSA (15). Some of the activities of the proteins encoded by the genes mentioned above (i.e., SPP1, CXCL10, CXCR4) could enable or partially explain some of the clinical findings (i.e., pulmonary metastasis) observed in our case.
The most downregulated gene was PTHLH, which encodes a protein involved in the regulation of endochondral bone development, as well as epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during the formation of mammary glands and teeth (41–43). The overexpression of its receptor PTHR1 in OSA has been associated with increased invasion and proliferation and conversely, decreased mRNA expression of PTHR1 has been associated with inhibition of proliferation, migration, and invasion in human OSA cell lines (44, 45). Patients with strong staining for PTHR1 in canine OSA tumors had reduced survival times compared to those with weak immunostaining intensity(45). Another downregulated gene was THBS1, a gene that encodes for the TSP1 protein, a glycoprotein that mediates cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions. This protein promotes cell migration and metastasis via FAK pathway and is highly upregulated in lung metastatic OSA (46). Similar associations with tumorigenesis, metastasis, and endothelial to mesenchymal transition have been described for the overexpression of LGALS3 protein and monocyte chemotactic protein 3( also known as CCL7) that encodes and is widely expressed in multiple cell types (47, 48). We suspect that the downregulation of those genes (i.e, PTHLH, THSB1, LGALS3, CCL7) could be a cause or an effect on the OSA & HO pathogenesis. For example, Mainetti et al, showed that the KIT upregulation and activation stimulated cell migration by suppressing BRCA2 in human prostate carcinoma cells (49). In our case, we observed the upregulation of KIT but not the downregulation of BRCA2. The KIT – BRCA2 regulatory interaction serves as an example of the complexity of cellular pathway interactions that could explain differences in gene expression profiles noted above.
When comparing the gene expression profile between primary and metastatic OSA lesions, we found the upregulation of CCL17 and VEGFC in primary lesion compared to metastasis. CCL17 and VEGFC proteins function as a cytokine and growth factor, respectively (50, 51). Regarding the upregulation of CCL17 in the primary lesion, mature regulatory dendritic cells (mreg DCs) are tumor-specific and express CCL17 in human OSA (52). Liu et al. showed mreg DCs were enriched in OSA but absent in PBMCs, suggesting that mreg DCs are tumor-associated and may be immunosuppressive in the tumor microenvironment (52). Hence, the upregulation of CCL17 in the primary OSA may reflect a similar tumor microenvironment to human OSA, where it has enriched mreg DCs expressing CCL17.
Regarding the VEGFC upregulation found in the primary lesion, the study by Park et al. demonstrated that OSA cell lines expressed 2–5-fold higher amplification of VEGFC mRNA than the control, and the higher VEGFC expression was associated with high-grade histologic type.(53) In addition, a study by Yang et al. found that a higher VEGFC expression correlated with a higher tumor grade in chondrosarcoma (54). Canine OSA is generally deemed a high-grade tumor, and the presence of a high mitotic index (77 in 10 high-powered fields) in our case is concordant with those findings.
FOS, C3, and C4BPA genes had significantly lower expression in primary lesion relative to metastasis. FOS is a proto-oncogene in humans; the overexpression of endogenous c-fos results in the development of OSA in transgenic mice (55). Also, C4BPA is a protein-coding gene that promotes cancer cell proliferation in CD40-expressing pancreas cancer (56). Liu et al. reported that C4BPA and FOS were significantly upregulated in metastatic human OSA compared to non-metastatic OSA (57). Similar to the findings of Liu et al., in our data, downregulation of FOS and C4BPA in primary lesion was found compared to metastasis. Thus, the upregulation of FOS and C4BPA could be a gene expression profile associated with metastatic lesions in canine OSA.
The comparison of GSA between primary and metastatic lesions revealed that the upregulation of C4BPA and C3 genes in the metastatic lesions mainly contributed to the predominance of the Complement and Complement System. C4BPA is an isoform of acute phase protein C4BP, and during inflammation, circulating C4BP levels may increase up to 400% mainly driven by the increase in isoform C4BPA level (58, 59). C3 is also associated with inflammatory responses; it was upregulated at mRNA level in human endometriosis cells compared to non-inflammatory healthy control (60). In addition, patients with HO had elevated complement levels, including C3 and C4 (61). Hence, activating the complement pathways through the upregulation of C3 and C4BPA may explain the inflammatory process observed in HO, such as pyrexia or pain in the extremities.
The five differentially expressed genes identified here provide clues for unraveling the pathophysiology of HO and pulmonary metastasis in canine OSA. Specifically, we found the upregulation of CCL17, VEGFC, and the downregulation of FOS, C3, and C4BPA in the primary lesion compared to the metastatic lesion in the same dog with HO caused by solitary metastasis of OSA. Further studies with more cases are needed to systematically explore the significance of these changes and explore gene expression more extensively in HO cases. The IO panel consists of 780 genes most of which are involved in tumorigenesis and as well as some genes reflecting immune pathways and immune cells and is thus not as comprehensive a look into the transcriptome as bulk RNA sequencing. However, it has great sensitivity and specificity, even when formalin fixed, and paraffin embedded samples are used and is therefore very useful for analysis of clinical samples. Our data presented here may form the basis of further comparisons if additional cases are acquired.