title: Increased activity of cathepsin B in fibroblasts isolated from primary melanoma in comparison to fibroblasts from normal skin.
abstract: We determined activity of cathepsin B in early-passage fibroblasts isolated from primary melanoma and in fibroblasts from normal skin. Our results show an up to 5-fold increase in activity of cathepsin B in the tumor-derived fibroblasts in comparison to the fibroblasts from normal skin. We conclude that fibroblasts isolated from melanoma tissue are altered with regard to their specific activity of cathepsin B and preserve this elevated activity in early-passage cell culture. The data support the idea that stromal cells are not passive elements of the peritumoral environment but actively participate in the production of proteolytic enzymes.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-Hautklinik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulmer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Körber
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fierlbeck
mesh_terms: D002401:Cathepsin B / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D002401:Cathepsin B