Modulation of hyaluronan production by CD44 positive glioma cells

This study examines the functional relationship between glioma cell production of hyaluronan (HA), known to play a role in glioma invasion, expression of its CD44 receptor, and glioma cell viability. Production of HA by CD44 positive mouse G26 and human U373 glioma cell lines was evaluated and compared to that of a CD44 positive mouse fibroblast-like L929 cell line. We found that both G26 and U373 MG glioma cells, but not L929 fibroblast-like cells, synthesized HA. The synthesis of HA by glioma cells was found during the proliferative phase as well as post-confluency, as detected by fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis. Eighty to ninety percent of the HA synthesized was secreted into the medium and 10-20% remained associated with the cells. To examine a possible mechanistic link between the CD44-HA interaction and endogenous HA production, glioma cells were treated with either anti-CD44 antibodies (clones KM201 or IM7) or HA oligosaccharides (hexanner oligoHA-6 or decamer oligoHA-10). We found that oligoHA-10, which was previously shown to compete effectively with the CD44-HA interaction, enhanced glioma HA synthesis by approximately 1.5-fold, without affecting cell viability. IM7 treatment of human U373 glioma cells resulted in over 50% decrease of HA production, which was associated with changes in cell size and apoptosis. Taken together, these data show that CD44 specific ligands, such as the IM7 antibody or oligoHA-10 could down-regulate or up-regulate glioma HA production, respectively. Our results suggest that interference with CD44/HA may lead to the discovery and development of new treatment modalities for glioma.