Interaction of CD44 with different forms of Hyluronic Acid. Its Roll in Adhesion and Migration of Tumor Cells

ALANIZ LAURA; CABRERA PAULA V; BLANCO GUILLERMO; ERNETS GLENDA; RIMOLDI GUILLERMO; ALVAREZ ELIDA; HAJOS SILVIA E

CELL ADHESION AND COMMUNICATION

Taylor & Francis

Lugar: London EC4P 4EE, UK.; Año: 2002 vol. 9 p. 117 - 130

1061-5385

Abstract Interaction between hyaluronic acid (HA) and CD44 has been considered a keyevent in tumor invasion and metastasis. HA is a linear, high molecular weightglycosaminoglycan in its native state, but fragmented low molecular forms arefound at sites ofneoplastic or inflammatory infiltrates. Both high and lowmolecular weights HA are involved in diverse biological functions. In thisstudy, we used two clonal variants of a T cell murine lymphoma designated LBLaand LBLc. These cell lines were found to differ in their in vivo and in vitrogrowth rates. LBLa grew faster and exhibited an enhanced invasive capacity ascompared to LBLc. In contrast, cell lines did not differ in the expression ofsurface markers (CD8, CD24, CD25, CD44, and CD18), or in their capacity to bindHA. However, LBLa cells exhibited higher capacity to migrate to low molecularweight HA than did LBLc. Migration was mediated by CD44 since it was abrogatedby anti-CD44 monoclonal antibody as well as by hyaluronidase. We suggest thatinteraction between CD44 and low molecular weight HA may trigger migrationmechanisms in LBLa cells, thus contributing to enhanced invasive cell capacity.