Role of stat3 in cell migration

Abstract

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins are indispensable components of multiple cytokine and growth factor signalling pathways. Upon activation, these latent cytoplasmic transcription factors dimerise and translocate into the nucleus to mediate expression of genes that regulate a variety of cellular processes including cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis and immune responses. In recent years, there is emerging evidence that Stat3 also participates in cell invasion and motility. Although a majority of these studies has implicated and emphasised the importance of Stat3 transcriptional activity in cell migration, little is known about how Stat3 regulates cell migration. In this study, we used Stat3-deficient and wild type Stat3-expressing murine embryonic fibroblasts as a model to investigate the role of Stat3 in cell migration. We have found that the loss of Stat3 expression leads to a random mode of cell migration. By performing rescue experiments, we demonstrate that Stat3 can regulate the directional persistence of migration.