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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.03.04.434001

Zebrafish embryo screen identifies anti-metastasis drugs

Nakayama, J.·Tan, L.·Goh, B. C.·Wang, S.·Makinoshima, H.·Zhiyuan, G.
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Abstract

Metastasis is responsible for approximately 90% of cancer-associated mortality but few models exist that allow for rapid and effective screening of anti-metastasis drugs. Current mouse models of metastasis are too expensive and time consuming to use for rapid and high-throughput screening. Therefore, we created a unique screening concept utilizing conserved mechanisms between zebrafish gastrulation and cancer metastasis for identification of potential anti-metastatic drugs. We hypothesized that small chemicals that interrupt zebrafish gastrulation might also suppress metastatic progression of cancer cells and developed a phenotype-based chemical screen to test the hypothesis. The screen used epiboly, the first morphogenetic movement in gastrulation, as a marker and enabled 100 chemicals to be tested in five hours. The screen tested 1280 FDA-approved drugs and identified Pizotifen, an antagonist for serotonin receptor 2C (HTR2C) as an epiboly-interrupting drug. Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of HTR2C suppressed metastatic progression in a mouse model. Blocking HTR2C with Pizotifen restored epithelial properties to metastatic cells through inhibition of Wnt-signaling. In contrast, HTR2C induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) through activation of Wnt-signaling and promoted metastatic dissemination of human cancer cells in a zebrafish xenotransplantation model. Taken together, our concept offers a novel platform for discovery of anti-metastasis drugs.

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Nakayama, J., Tan, L., Goh, B. C., Wang, S., Makinoshima, H., Zhiyuan, G.. 2021-03-05. Zebrafish embryo screen identifies anti-metastasis drugs. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.04.434001

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