HMGB1 contributes to SASH1 methylation to attenuate astrocyte adhesion

SAM and SH3 domain-containing 1 (SASH1), a scaffold protein, is regarded as a tumor suppressor. Recent studies have verified the decreased expression of SASH1 in many tumors. Our previous clinical investigation found that SASH1 was widely expressed in normal brain tissues but reduced or absent in glioma tissues. However, the functions of SASH1 in normal astrocytes and the reasons for the reductions in SASH1 levels in glioma tissues are unclear. In this study, we found that in astrocytes, SASH1 functions in cell adhesion. We observed that knockdown of SASH1 expression in cultured astrocytes significantly decreased cell adhesion and increased invasion. Conversely, overexpression of SASH1 in C6 cells markedly promoted cell adhesion and decreased cell invasion. In addition, we found that the expression level of one member of the integrin family, integrin β8, was significantly reduced in SASH1-downregulated astrocytes and elevated in SASH1-upregulated C6 cells. Furthermore, the results of methylation and ChIP assays showed that the methylation level of the SASH1 gene was markedly higher in C6 cells than in astrocytes and that HMGB1 could bind to the CpG islands of the SASH1 gene. HMGB1 overexpression in astrocytes significantly increased the methylation level of the SASH1 gene. This study reveals, for the first time, that HMGB1 contributes to the methylation of the SASH1 gene, and our findings suggest that methylation downregulates the expression of the SASH1 gene and later reduces integrin β8 expression, thereby reducing cell adhesion and promoting cell migration.