Ribozyme mediated down-regulation of thrombospondin receptor CD36 inhibits the growth of the human osteosarcoma cell line.
Yamazaki H., Handa A., Nishi M., Tokunaga T., Tomisawa M., Hatanaka H., Abe Y., Kijima H., Ueyama Y., Nakamura M.
Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) is known to possess tumor suppressor functions. In contradiction, TSP1 enhances the stromal vascularization and growth of certain cancers. A cell adhesion receptor, CD36, has been shown to interact with a ligand TSP1. We studied how CD36 affects the growth of the osteosarcoma cell line (HOS) expressing TSP1. We used the anti-CD36 ribozyme to specifically suppress CD36 gene expression in the HOS. The expression of the CD36 mRNA was significantly suppressed in the ribozyme-introduced cell line (HOS/Rz). The transformant HOS/Rz markedly decreased its growth. The growth of the osteosarcoma cell line HOS may be regulated by autocrine or paracrine loop TSP1 and CD36.