title: Reduced cell migration, tumor growth and experimental metastasis of rat F-11 cells whose expression of GD3-synthase is suppressed.
abstract: We previously established a rat F-11 cell line whose expression of ganglioside GD3 was inhibited by stable transfection of the anti-sense vector against the GD3-synthase gene, showing that specific inhibition of GD3-synthase expression in tumor cells greatly reduced their growth rate in nude mice. Here, we report that down-regulation of GD3-synthase expression in anti-sense-transfected F-11 cells correlates with reduced cell migration and invasion in vitro and tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. When cultures were denuded of cells in a 1-mm-wide strip, the anti-sense-transfected F-11 cells migrated very slowly into the denuded area. Differences in migration between anti-sense-transfected cells and control parental cells were easily apparent. In vitro invasion assay of F-11 cells revealed a 3-fold decrease in invasion ability from the GD3-synthase-suppressed cells; colony formation in soft agar was not affected. Injection (i.v.) of control sense-transfected and untransfected F-11 cells resulted in multiple, large metastatic nodules in each of the 12 mice, whereas i.v. injection of anti-sense-transfected F-11 cells formed a single, small metastatic nodule in only 2 of the 8 nude mice. In addition, even if metastasis occurred, the anti-sense-induced metastatic nodules were much smaller than the metastatic nodules formed by control F-11 cells. These results demonstrate that suppression of GD3-synthase expression, which results primarily in a marked decrease in the concentration of ganglioside GD3, greatly reduces cell spreading, invasion and both the incidence and growth rate of experimental metastasis of F-11 cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA. gzeng@mail.mcg.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D016373:DNA, Antisense / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D009447:Neuroblastoma; D051381:Rats; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D016373:DNA, Antisense; D005732:Gangliosides; C026226:ganglioside, GD3; D012799:Sialyltransferases; C043662:alpha-N-acetylneuraminate alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase