Increased tumor metastasis after in vitro alteration of the cell surface.
A strain-specific transplantable melanoma (S-91) growing progressively in DBA/1 mice and metastasizing selectively to the lungs was maintained for 16 days in organ culture before being grafted to syngeneic (DBA/1) and allogeneic (BALB/c and C57BL/6) recipients. The cultured S-91 grew progressively in the syngeneic mice and to a moderate degree in the allogeneic strains; it showed an increased tendency to metastasize in both the DBA/1 and C57BL/6 recipients. Heterophilic cytoagglutination assays of cultured S-91 were less apt to aggregate in the presence of concanavalin A than were their noncultured counterparts, which suggested alteration of the plasma membrane. Organ culture explantation appeared to alter phenotypically the cell-surface membrane and thus increase the cell's ability to metastasize while possibly reducing the immunogenicity of the cultured tumor cells.
D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000276:immunology*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000276:immunology
D003208:Concanavalin A