Abstract
Slit and Robo proteins are evolutionarily conserved molecules whose interaction underlies axon guidance and neuronal precursor cell migration. During development secreted Slit proteins mediate chemorepulsive signals on cells expressing Robo receptors. Because similar molecular mechanisms may be utilized in glioma cell invasion and neuroblast migration, we studied the expression of Slit2 and its transmembrane receptor Robo1 as well as their functional role in migration in glioma cells. qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry of human specimens revealed that Slit2 was distinctly expressed by non-neoplastic neurons, but at only very low levels in fibrillary astrocytoma and glioblastoma. Robo1 also was mainly restricted to neurons in the normal brain, whereas astrocytic tumor cells in situ as well as glioblastoma cell lines overexpressed Robo1 at mRNA and protein levels. Recombinant human Slit2 in a concentration of 0.45 nM was repulsive for glioma cell lines in a modified Boyden chamber assay. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Robo1 in glioma cell lines neutralized the repulsive effect of Slit2, demonstrating that Robo1 served as the major Slit2 receptor. Our findings suggest that a chemorepulsive effect mediated by interaction of Slit2 and Robo1 participates in glioma cell guidance in the brain.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wong K, Park HT, Wu JY, Rao Y (2002) Slit proteins: molecular guidance cues for cells ranging from neurons to leukocytes. Curr Opin Genet Dev 12:583–591
Dickson BJ, Gilestro GF (2006) Regulation of commissural axon pathfinding by slit and its Robo receptors. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 22:651–675
Erskine L, Williams SE, Brose K et al (2000) Retinal ganglion cell axon guidance in the mouse optic chiasm: expression and function of Robos and Slits. J Neurosci 20:4975–4982
Hammond R, Vivancos V, Naeem A, Chilton J et al (2005) Slit-mediated repulsion is a key regulator of motor axon pathfinding in the hindbrain. Development 132:4483–4495
Mambetisaeva ET, Andrews W, Camurri L, Annan A, Sundaresan V (2005) Robo family of proteins exhibit differential expression in mouse spinal cord and Robo–Slit interaction is required for midline crossing in vertebrate spinal cord. Dev Dyn 233:41–51
Fouquet C, Di Meglio T, Ma L et al (2007) Robo1 and robo2 control the development of the lateral olfactory tract. J Neurosci 27:3037–3045
Wang KH, Brose K, Arnott D et al (1999) Biochemical purification of a mammalian Slit protein as a positive regulator of sensory axon elongation and branching. Cell 96:771–784
Whitford KL, Marillat V, Stein E et al (2002) Regulation of cortical dendrite development by Slit–Robo interactions. Neuron 33:47–61
Ward M, McCann C, DeWulf M, Wu JY, Rao Y (2003) Distinguishing between directional guidance and motility regulation in neuronal migration. J Neurosci 23:5170–5177
Sawamoto K, Wichterle H, Gonzalez-Perez O et al (2006) A. New neurons follow the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the adult brain. Science 311:629–632
Nguyen-Ba-Charvet KT, Picard-Riera N, Tessier-Lavigne M, Baron-Van Evercooren A, Sotelo C, Chedotal A (2004) Multiple roles for slits in the control of cell migration in the rostral migratory stream. J Neurosci 24:1497–1506
Wu JY, Feng L, Park HT et al (2001) The neuronal repellent Slit inhibits leukocyte chemotaxis induced by chemotactic factors. Nature 410:948–952
Guan H, Zu G, Xie Y et al (2003) Neuronal repellent Slit2 inhibits dendritic cell migration and the development of immune responses. J Immunol 171:6519–6526
Liu D, Hou J, Hu X et al (2006) Neuronal chemorepellent Slit2 inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell migration by suppressing small GTPase Rac1 activation. Circ Res 98:480–489
Schmid BC, Rezniczek GA, Fabjani G, Yoneda T, Leodolter S, Zeillinger R (2007) The neuronal guidance cue Slit2 induces targeted migration and may play a role in brain metastasis of breast cancer cells. Breast Cancer Res Treat [PMID: 17268810]
Louis DN, Ohgaki H, Wiestler OD et al (2007) The 2007 WHO classification of tumours of the central nervous system. Acta Neuropathol 114:97–109
Claes A, Idema AJ, Wesseling P (2007) Diffuse glioma growth: a guerilla war. Acta Neuropathol 114:443–458
Werbowetski T, Bjerkvig R, Del Maestro RF (2004) Evidence for a secreted chemorepellent that directs glioma cell invasion. J Neurobiol 60:71–88
Suzuki SO, McKenney RJ, Mawatari SY et al (2007) Expression patterns of LIS1, dynein and their interaction partners dynactin, NudE, NudEL and NudC in human gliomas suggest roles in invasion and proliferation. Acta Neuropathol 113:591–599
Senner V, Kismann E, Püttmann S, Hoess N, Baur I, Paulus W (2002) L1 expressed by glioma cells promotes adhesion but not migration. Glia 38:146–154
Werbowetski-Ogilvie TE, Seyed Sadr M, Jabado N et al (2006) Inhibition of medulloblastoma cell invasion by Slit. Oncogene 25:5103–5112
Dallol A, Krex D, Hesson L, Eng C, Maher ER, Latif F (2003) Frequent epigenetic inactivation of the SLIT2 gene in gliomas. Oncogene 22:4611–4616
Dallol A, Morton D, Maher ER, Latif F (2003) SLIT2 axon guidance molecule is frequently inactivated in colorectal cancer and suppresses growth of colorectal carcinoma cells. Cancer 63:1054–1058
Narayan G, Goparaju C, Arias-Pulido H et al (2006) Promoter hypermethylation-mediated inactivation of multiple Slit–Robo pathway genes in cervical cancer progression. Mol Cancer 5:16
Astuti D, Da Silva NF, Dallol A et al (2004) SLIT2 promoter methylation analysis in neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumour and renal cell carcinoma. Br J Cancer 90:515–521
Rossi MR, Huntoon K, Cowell JK (2005) Differential expression of the LGI and SLIT families of genes in human cancer cells. Gene 356:85–90
Xian J, Aitchison A, Bobrow L et al (2004) Targeted disruption of the 3p12 gene, Dutt1/Robo1, predisposes mice to lung adenocarcinomas and lymphomas with methylation of the gene promoter. Cancer Res 64:6432–6437
Prasad A, Fernandis AZ, Rao Y, Ganju RK (2004) Slit protein-mediated inhibition of CXCR4-induced chemotactic and chemoinvasive signaling pathways in breast cancer cells. J Biol Chem 279:9115–9124
Marillat V, Cases O, Nguyen-Ba-Charvet KT, Tessier-Lavigne M, Sotelo C, Chedotal A (2002) Spatiotemporal expression patterns of slit and robo genes in the rat brain. J Comp Neurol 442:130–155
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant SFB 629 B5) and the Wilhelm-Sander-Stiftung (grant 2005.058.1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mertsch, S., Schmitz, N., Jeibmann, A. et al. Slit2 involvement in glioma cell migration is mediated by Robo1 receptor. J Neurooncol 87, 1–7 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-007-9484-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-007-9484-2