Glioblastoma U-87 cell electrotaxis is hindered by doxycycline with a concomitant reduction in the matrix metallopeptidase-9 expression

Hui-Fang Chang; Ji-Yen Cheng

doi:10.1016/j.bbrep.2024.101690

Glioblastoma U-87 cell electrotaxis is hindered by doxycycline with a concomitant reduction in the matrix metallopeptidase-9 expression

Biochem Biophys Rep. 2024 Mar 25:38:101690. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2024.101690. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Authors

Hui-Fang Chang¹, Ji-Yen Cheng^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan.
⁴ College of Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Abstract

Electric fields (EF) play an essential role in cancer cell migration. Numerous cancer cell types exhibit electrotaxis under direct current electric fields (dcEF) of physiological electric field strength (EFs). This study investigated the effects of doxycycline on the electrotactic responses of U87 cells. After EF stimulation, U87 cells migrated toward the cathode, whereas doxycycline-treated U87 cells exhibited enhanced cell mobility but hindered cathodal migration. We further investigated the expression of the metastasis-correlated proteins matrix metallopeptidase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in U87 cells. The levels of MMP-2 in the cells were not altered under EF or doxycycline stimulation. In contrast, the EF stimulation greatly enhanced the levels of MMP-9 and then repressed in doxycycline-cotreated cells, accompanied by reduced cathodal migration. Our results demonstrated that an antibiotic at a non-toxic concentration could suppress the enhanced cell migration accelerated by EF of physiological strength. This finding may be applied as an anti-metastatic treatment for cancers.

Keywords: Cancer metastasis; Doxycycline; Electrotaxis; Glioblastoma cell; MMP-9; Microfluidic.