A 'Spicy' Mechanotransduction Switch: Capsaicin-Activated TRPV1 Receptor Modulates Osteosarcoma Cell Behavior and Drug Sensitivity.

Overview

abstract

Osteosarcoma (OS), the most common primary malignant bone tumor, arises in highly mechanosensitive tissue and exhibits marked heterogeneity and resistance to conventional therapies. While molecular drivers have been extensively characterized, the role of mechanical stimuli in OS progression remains underexplored. Here, we identify the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel as a key regulator of mechanotransduction and drug responsiveness in OS cells. Using uniaxial cyclic stretch, we show that aggressive U-2 OS cells undergo TRPV1-dependent perpendicular reorientation, unlike the inert SAOS-2 cells. Confocal microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and atomic force microscopy reveal that nanomolar concentrations of capsaicin-a well-characterized TRPV1 agonist-chemically mimic this mechanical phenotype, altering metastatic traits including adhesion, edge architecture, migration, nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, and sensitivity to doxorubicin and cisplatin. TRPV1 activation, whether mechanical or chemical, induces subtype-specific effects absent in healthy hFOB osteoblasts. Notably, it differentially regulates nuclear localization of the proto-oncogene Src in U-2 OS versus SAOS-2 cells. Corresponding changes in Src and acetylated histone H3 (acH3) levels support a role for TRPV1 in modulating the Src-acH3 mechanosignaling axis. These effects are tumor-specific, positioning TRPV1 as a mechanosensitive signaling hub that integrates mechanical and chemical cues to drive epigenetic remodeling and phenotypic plasticity in OS, with potential as a therapeutic target in aggressive, drug-resistant subtypes.