Evaluation of the Interplay Between the Complement Protein C1q and Hyaluronic Acid in Promoting Cell Adhesion

It has been increasingly demonstrated that the tumor microenvironment plays an active role in neoplasia growth and metastasis. Through different pathways, tumor cells can efficiently recruit stromal, immune and endothelial cells by secreting stimulatory factors, chemokines and cytokines. In turn, these cells can alter the signaling properties of the microenvironment by releasing growth-promoting signals, metabolites and extracellular matrix components to sustain high proliferation and metastatic competence. In this context, we identify that the complement component C1q, highly expressed locally by a range of human malignant tumors, upon interacting with the extracellular matrix hyaluronic acid, strongly affects the behavior of primary cells isolated from human tumor specimens. Here, we describe a method to test how C1q bound to hyaluronic acid (HA) impacts tumor cell adhesion, underlying the fact that the biological properties of key components of the extracellular matrix (in this case HA) can be shaped by bioactive signals toward tumor progression.