Human osteosarcoma cells release matrix degrading enzymes in response to chemokine activation

Matrix degrading enzymes released upon autocrine and/or paracrine induction exert a key role in modulating tumor cell behavior. Osteosarcoma is a highly metastatic cancer, with a redundancy of autocrine loops. Here we report that human osteosarcoma cells express a wide array of chemokine receptors and respond to chemokine activation with the release of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase and gelatinase/collagenase activity. Of the two cell lines studied, the osteoblast-like MG-63 showed a higher responsivity compared to the less differentiated HOS. This suggests that chemokine modulation of matrix degrading enzymes requires the maintaining of the osteoblastic phenotype and of signaling pathways which occur in normal tissue.