Cell migration is a multistep process initiated by extracellular matrix components that leads to cytoskeletal changes and formation of different protrusive structures at the cell periphery.
Lumican, a small extracellular matrix
leucine-rich
proteoglycan, has been shown to inhibit human
melanoma cell migration by binding to α2β1
integrin and affecting actin cytoskeleton organization. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
lumican overexpression on the migration ability of human
colon adenocarcinoma LS180 cells. The cells stably transfected with plasmid containing
lumican cDNA were characterized by the increased chemotactic migration measured on Transwell filters.
Lumican-overexpressing cells presented the elevated filamentous to monomeric actin ratio and
gelsolin up-regulation. This was accompanied by a distinct cytoskeletal actin rearrangement and
gelsolin subcellular relocation, as observed under
laser scaning confocal microscope. Moreover, LS180 cells overexpressing
lumican tend to form podosome-like structures as indicated by
vinculin redistribution and its colocalization with
gelsolin and actin at the submembrane region of the cells. In conclusion, the elevated level of
lumican secretion to extracellular space leads to actin cytoskeletal remodeling followed by an increase in migration capacity of human colon LS180 cells. These data suggest that
lumican expression and its presence in ECM has an impact on
colon cancer cells motility and may modulate invasiveness of
colon cancer.