CD44 is involved in CXCL-12 induced acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell polarity

cxcl-12 and its receptor cxcr4 participate in breast cancer and melanoma cell metastasis to bone and lymphoid nodes. cd44, as a receptor for hyaluronic acid, is involved in lymphocyte recirculation, homing, adhesion and migration. but the role of cd44 in cxcl-12 induced leukemia cell migration still remains unclear. the present study showed that cxcl-12 stimulation induced the rapid internalization of cxcr4 and facilitated the formation of lamellipodia and uropod in acute leukemia cell line hl-60. cxcl-12 also induced cd44 translocation into the uropod, while cd44 remained evenly distributed on the untreated cell membranes. results suggest that cd44 participates in cxcl-12 induced cell polarization and subsequent cell migration.