Effect of chromogranin A (pancreastatin) fragment on invasion of prostate cancer cells

We investigated the effect of chromogranin A (pancreastatin) fragment on the invasion of PC-3, DU-145 and LNCaP prostate cancer cells through a reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) using a Transwell cell culture chamber assay. Chromogranin A fragment increased the invasive capacity of both PC-3 and DU-145 cells, whereas it had no significant effect of LNCaP cells. Chromogranin A fragment also increased the haptotactic migration of both PC-3 and DU-145 cells to fibronectin. Furthermore chromogranin A fragment increased the fibrinolytic activities of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) in fibrin zymograms of both PC-3 and DU-145 cells and the expression of u-PA mRNA of PC-3 cells. However, the growth of these tumor cells was not affected by chromogranin A fragment at any concentrations used in this study. These results indicate that chromogranin A fragment increased the invasive potential of both PC-3 and DU-145 cells probably through enhancement of cell motility and the production of u-PA.