Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of VCAM-1 on migration and invasion of glioma cell lines. Methods The techniques of lentivirus pSGU6/GFP/Neo-based VCAM-1 shRNA and EF1a-GFP/puro-based VCAM-1 expression vector, the scratch wound healing migration and transwell invasion assays, and the Western blot and cell staining were applied to observe the effects of VCAM-1 expression levels on the migration activity and invasion ability of glioma cell line cells. There are four groups in T98G cells including control, vector, scramble and shRNA-VCAM-1 groups and three groups in U251 cells covering control, vector and VCAM-1 overexpressed groups (n=6 per group). Results The stabled glioma cell lines of T98G cells with down-regulated VCAM-1 and U251 cells with VCAM-1 overexpression were firstly established by using lentivirus-based VCAM-1 shRNA and expression vector. The ability of scratch wound healing (migration activity) decreased significantly (p<0.01) in T98G cells with lower VCAM-1 expression levels, while the migration activity was obviously improved in U251 cells with overexpressed VCAM-1 (p<0.05,). Similarly, the invasion ability was significantly inhibited (p<0.05) in T98G cells with silenced VCAM-1, as well as VCAM-1 overexpression could enhance the invasion ability of U251 cells (p<0.01). Conclusions VCAM-1 enhances the migration activity and invasion ability of human glioma cell line cells.

Key words: Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), brain glioma, lentiviral transfection, migration activity, invasion ability.