Migration and invasion of 5 glioblastoma cell lines

Glioblastoma cells are characterized by a highly invasive behavior whose mechanisms are not yet understood. Using the wound healing and Boyden chamber assays we compared in the present study the migration and invasion abilities of 5 glioblastoma cell lines (DK-MG, GaMG, U87-MG, U373-MG, SNB19) differing in p53 and PTEN status. We also analyzed by Western blotting the expression of PTEN, p53, mTOR and several other marker proteins involved in cell adhesion, migration and invasion. Among 5 cell lines, GaMG cells exhibited the fastest rate of wound closure, whereas U87-MG cells showed the most rapid chemotactic migration in the Boyden chamber assay. In DK-MG and GaMG cells, F-actin mainly occurred in the numerous stress fibers spanning the cytoplasm, whereas U87-MG, U373-MG and SNB19 cells preferentially expressed F-actin in filopodia and lamellipodia. Moreover, the two glioblastoma lines mutated in both p53 and PTEN genes (U373-MG and SNB19) were found to exhibit the fastest invasion rates through the Matrigel matrix. Here, we performed a gene expression profiling of the five glioblastoma cell lines to examine the molecular framework of differences in invasive behavior to find possible targets for chemo- and radiation therapy.