Nerve growth factor promote VCAM-1-dependent monocyte adhesion and M2 polarization in osteosarcoma microenvironment: Implications for larotrectinib therapy

Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent form of primary malignant bone tumor, primarily affecting children and adolescents. The nerve growth factors (NGF) referred to as neurotrophins have been associated with cancer-induced bone pain; however, the role of NGF in osteosarcoma has yet to be elucidated. In osteosarcoma samples from the Genomic Data Commons data portal, we detected higher levels of NGF and M2 macrophage markers, but not M1 macrophage markers. In cellular experiments, NGF-stimulated osteosarcoma conditional medium was shown to facilitate macrophage polarization from the M0 to the M2 phenotype. NGF also enhanced VCAM-1-dependent monocyte adhesion within the osteosarcoma microenvironment by down-regulating miR-513c-5p levels through the FAK and c-Src cascades. In in vivo xenograft models, the overexpression of NGF was shown to enhance tumor growth, while the oral administration of the TrK inhibitor larotrectinib markedly antagonized NGF-promoted M2 macrophage expression and tumor progression. These results suggest that larotrectinib could potentially be used as a therapeutic agent aimed at mitigating NGF-mediated osteosarcoma progression.