ABSTRACT
Why do some host-parasite interactions become less antagonistic over evolutionary time? Vertical transmission can select for reduced antagonism. Vertical transmission also promotes coevolution between hosts and parasites. Therefore, we hypothesized that coevolution itself may underlie transitions to reduced antagonism. To test the coevolution hypothesis, we selected for reduced antagonism between the host Caenorhabditis elegans and its parasite Serratia marcescens. This parasite is horizontally transmitted, which allowed us to study coevolution independently of vertical transmission. After 20 generations, we observed a response to selection when coevolution was possible: reduced antagonism evolved in the copassaged treatment. Reduced antagonism, however, did not evolve when hosts or parasites were independently selected without coevolution. In addition, we found strong local adaptation for reduced antagonism between replicate host/parasite lines in the copassaged treatment. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that coevolution was critical to the rapid evolution of reduced antagonism.
Subject(s)
Biological Evolution , Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics , Host-Pathogen Interactions , Selection, Genetic , Serratia marcescens/genetics , Adaptation, Physiological , Animals , Caenorhabditis elegans/microbiologySubject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/standards , Streptococcus pneumoniae/drug effects , Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/methods , Sensitivity and Specificity , Streptococcus pneumoniae/classification , Streptococcus pneumoniae/growth & development , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of malignancy-related mortality in males in the United States. As a solid tumor, clinically significant tumor growth and metastasis are dependent on nutrients and oxygen supplied by tumor-associated neovasculature. As such, there is a selective tumorigenic advantage for those neoplasms that can produce angiogenic mediators. We show here that human prostate cancer cell lines can constitutively produce angiogenic CXC chemokines. Tumorigenesis of PC-3 prostate cancer cells was shown to be attributable, in part, to the production of the angiogenic CXC chemokine, interleukin (IL)-8. Neutralizing antisera to IL-8 inhibits PC-3 tumor growth in a human prostate cancer/SCID mouse model. Furthermore, angiogenic activity in PC-3 tumor homogenates was attributable to IL-8. In contrast, the Du145 prostate cancer cell line uses a different angiogenic CXC chemokine, GRO-alpha, to mediate tumorigenicity. Neutralizing antisera to GRO-alpha but not IL-8 reduced tumor growth in vivo and reduced the angiogenic activity in tumor homogenates. Thus, prostate cancer cell lines can use distinct CXC chemokines to mediate their tumorigenicity.
