CCL3 induced migration occurs independently of intracellular calcium release.

The molecular signalling pathway of cell migration and whether it can occur independently of the release of intracellular calcium is still not completely understood. Therefore we investigated here the molecular mechanisms of CCL3 induced cell migration and the importance of intracellular calcium for chemotaxis in more detail. We show that CCL3 induced cell migration is dependent on activation of PLC. Several PKC inhibitors block the release of intracellular calcium independently of CCL3 activation and do not affect cell migration. This confirms that the release of intracellular calcium is not necessary for chemotaxis towards CCL3 and that PKC inhibitors should be used with caution in calcium release assays.