Heparan-6-O-endosulfatase 2 promotes invasiveness of head and neck squamous carcinoma cell lines in co-cultures with cancer associated fibroblasts

Local invasiveness of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a complex phenomenon supported by interaction of the cancer cells with the TME. We and others have shown that CAFs are a component of the TME that can promote local invasion in HNSCC and other cancers. Here we report that the secretory enzyme Sulf-2 directly affects the CAF-supported invasion of HNSCC cell lines SCC35 and Cal33 into Matrigel. The Sulf-2 knockout (KO) cells differ from their wild type counterparts in their spheroid growths and formation, and the Sulf-2-KO leads to decreased invasion in a spheroid co-culture model with the CAF. Next, we investigated whether a fucosylated chondroitin sulfate isolated from the sea cucumber Holothuria Floridana (HfFucCS), affects activity of the Sulf-2 enzyme. Our results show that HfFucCS not only inhibits efficiently the Sulf-2 enzymatic activity but, like the Sulf-2 knockout, inhibits Matrigel invasion of the SCC35 and Cal33 cells co-cultured with the primary HNSCC CAF. These findings suggest that the heparan 6-O-endosulfatases regulate local invasion and could be therapeutically targeted with the inhibitory activity of a marine glycosaminoglycan. Simple SummaryLocal invasion of cancer cells is an early step in the cascade of metastasis that requires cooperation of multiple factors and cell types in the tumor microenvironment (TME). One important factor is the crosstalk of cancer cells with cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF). Here we explore the impact of a secretory enzyme heparan-6-O-endosulfatase 2 (Sulf-2) on the CAF-assisted invasion of head and neck squamous carcinoma cells into matrigel. We show that Sulf-2 knock out inhibits cancer cell invasion in a spheroid co-culture model and we identified a novel Sulf-2 inhibitor that, in the same model, limits cancer cell invasion.