title: Role of intracellular S100A4 for migration of rat astrocytes.
abstract: S100A4 is a member of the EF-hand family of calcium-binding proteins, first identified in tumor cells, and implicated in tumor invasion and metastasis. Intracellular upregulation of S100A4 is associated with increased motility of tumor cells. Extracellular application of S100A4 increases the motility of glioma cells in vitro. We showed previously that astrocytes in spinal cord and brain white matter also express S100A4. This expression is markedly increased in reactive white matter astrocytes after injury. Here, we have explored how changes in intracellular S100A4 affect migration of astrocytes. We produced cultures of white matter, S100A4 expressing astrocytes, and developed a small interfering (si) RNA approach to specifically eliminate S100A4 expression in these cells, and compared the migration of astrocytes expressing S100A4 with astrocytes transfected with S100A4 siRNA. As a "positive control" we used S100A4 expressing C6 glioma cells. In contrast to malignant cells, S100A4 expressing astrocytes increased their migration capacity after S100A4 siRNA treatment. At the same time, and in parallel with increased migration, white matter astrocytes increased their expression of metalloproteinases MMP-9 and MT1-MMP. The addition of MMP-2/MMP-9 inhibitor resulted in a significant inhibition of migration in S100A4 siRNA-treated astrocytes. These findings indicate that S100A4 has a stabilizing function in reactive white matter astrocytes, a function that may contribute to the development of a rigid, growth-inhibitory glial scar.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemotherapy, Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takenaga
authors.forename: Elena N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Kozlova
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005910:Glioma / Q000378:metabolism; D015151:Immunoblotting; D045726:Metalloproteases / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000071999:S100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D000071999:S100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4; D009418:S100 Proteins; C499412:S100a4 protein, rat; D045726:Metalloproteases