Hyaluronic acid/CD44H interaction induces cell detachment and stimulates migration and invasion of human glioma cells in vitro

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The mechanisms underlying the invasive properties of gliomas, the major form of intrinsic brain tumours in humans, are poorly understood. We have reported that CD44 plays an important role in this behaviour in vitro. In the present work, we investigated the role of its ligand, hyaluronic acid (HA), in invasion in 8 human glioma cell lines. We found that HA mediates cell detachment via its interaction with its high affinity receptor, CD44H. Using 8 microns porosity polycarbonate filter transwells, we demonstrate that HA strongly stimulates migration in all 8 cell lines. This effect was found to be partially counteracted by a CD44H monoclonal antibody (MAb), suggesting the involvement of CD44H, as well as other HA receptors, in this process. Furthermore, incorporation of increasing concentrations of HA in Matrigel in an in vitro invasion assay resulted in a substantial increase in the invasive propensity of the glioma cell lines. Moreover, blocking experiments with the CD44H MAb suggest that CD44H and other receptors interact with HA to promote cell invasion in vitro. Our results show that HA induces cell detachment, stimulates migration and promotes invasion via its interaction with CD44H and other HA receptors in vitro. These effects could be prevented by use of specific HA receptor antibodies.