Insights into the role of sulfated glycans in cancer cell adhesion and migration through use of branched peptide probe

Authors:
Brunetti J, Depau L, Falciani C, Gentile M, Mandarini E, Riolo G, Lupetti P, Pini A, Bracci L
In:
Source: Scientific Reports
Publication Date: (2016)
Issue: 6: 27174
Research Area:
Cancer Research/Cell Biology
Basic Research
Cells used in publication:
CHO-K1
Species: hamster
Tissue Origin: ovarian
PANC-1
Species: human
Tissue Origin: pancreas
Experiment

CytoSMART was used to record single images for creation of time-lapse videos of two different migration assays: Wound healing. PANC-1 cells (2 × 105 cells/well) were seeded on each side of a culture insert for live cell analysis. Inserts were placed in wells of a pre-coated 24-well plate (collagen IV, human cellular fibronectin and human plasma fibronectin for 2 h at 37 °C) and incubated at 37 °C and 5% CO2 to allow cells grow to confluence. Afterwards, inserts were removed with sterile tweezers to create a cell-free area of approximately 500 µm and cells were treated with NT4 peptide at different concentrations in complete medium. Cells were allowed to migrate in an appropriate incubator. CytoSMART Lux 10x System (Lonza) was used to take a picture at time point zero and every 10 min for a total of 22 h. The time lapse stacks of images were also analyzed using ImageJ and the two plug-ins: Manual Tracking, and Chemotaxis and Migration Tool. Individual cells were randomly selected and tracked throughout the 10 h time period. Cancer cell migration in Matrigel. PANC-1 cells (2 × 105 cells/well) were seeded on each side of a culture insert for live cell analysis. Inserts were placed in 24-well plate and incubated at 37 °C and 5% CO2 to allow cells grow to confluence. Inserts were removed with sterile tweezers to create a cell-free area of approximately 500 µm. Wells were covered with Matrigel for 30 min at 37 °C and then NT4 peptide in complete medium was added to each well. Cells were allowed to migrate in an appropriate incubator. CytoSMART Lux 10x System (Lonza) was used to take a picture at time point zero and every 7.5 min for a total of 42 h.

Abstract

The tetra-branched peptide NT4 selectively binds to different human cancer cells and tissues. NT4 specifically binds to sulfated glycosaminoglycans on cancer cell membranes. Since sulfated glycosaminoglycans are involved in cancer cell interaction with the extracellular matrix, we evaluated the effect of NT4 on cancer cell adhesion and migration. We demonstrated here that the branched peptide NT4 binds sulfated glycosaminoglycans with high affinity and with preferential binding to heparan sulfate. NT4 inhibits cancer cell adhesion and migration on different proteins, without modifying cancer cell morphology or their ability to produce protrusions, but dramatically affecting the directionality and polarity of cell movement. Results obtained by taking advantage of the selective targeting of glycosaminoglycans chains by NT4, provide insights into the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in cancer cell adhesion and migration and suggest a determinant role of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the control of cancer cell directional migration.