Inhibition of adhesion molecule gene expression and cell adhesion by the metabolic regulator PGC-1alpha

Cell adhesion plays an important role in determining cell shape and function in a variety of physiological and pathophysiological conditions. While links between metabolism and cell adhesion were previously suggested, the exact context and molecular details of such a cross-talk remain incompletely understood. Our study shows that PGC-1alpha, a pivotal transcriptional co-activator of metabolic gene expression, acts to inhibit expression of cell adhesion genes. Using cell lines as well as primary cells, we show that both endogenous and exogenous PGC-1a down-regulate expression of a variety of cell adhesion molecules. Cells were grown in 12-well plates and control adenoviruses (Ad-control) or PGC-1alpha (Ad-PGC-1alpha) were directly added to the culture medium where indicated.