Cell-substrate adhesion and metastatic potential of cultured mesothelioma cells induced by asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Cell-substrate adhesion and metastatic potential of cultured mesothelioma cells induced by asbestos, by M.M. Lee, F.H. Green, W.M. Schoel, et al (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1994).

The study

• Authors: M.M. Lee, F.H. Green, W.M. Schoel, S. Schürch
• Journal: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta
• Published: 1994;1226(2):151-62
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Cell-substrate adhesion was quantified for two cultured mesothelioma cell lines (epitheliomatous and sarcomatous) on glass, fibronectin and laminin substrates. Interference reflection microscopy (IRM) was used to image the adhesion patterns of cells and a grey level analysis was employed to quantify adhesion. Sarcomatous cells demonstrated marked adhesion to glass and fibronectin-coated substrates but not to laminin-coated substrate, with the greatest adhesion occurring on the fibronectin-coated surface. This adhesion was accompanied by cytoplasmic spreading. By contrast, epitheliomatous cells showed little tendency to adhere to any of the substrates and only showed significant spreading when in contact with the laminin substrate (P < 0.01). A bioassay was used to determine the metastatic potential of each of the cell lines. Via the intravenous route, the sarcomatous cells killed the host rats in 24.7 +/- 1.5 (S.D.) days compared to 27.3 +/- 0.9 (S.D.) days for the epitheliomatous cells (P < 0.01). After subcutaneous inoculation of tumour cells, the sarcomatous cells killed the host rats in 54.7 +/- 0.7 (S.D.) days compared to 48.5 +/- 0.5 (S.D.) days for the epitheliomatous cells (P < 0.01). We conclude that the results of the metastasis bioassays were consistent with the predicted behavior of these cell lines based on their ability to adhere to substrates in the in vitro adhesion assays.

In plain English

In this laboratory study, the authors injected Fischer 344 rats intraperitoneally with 50 mg of crocidolite asbestos and grew cells from a biphasic mesothelioma that arose in one rat 9 months later. They separated two cell lines, sarcomatous and epitheliomatous, and measured how each stuck to and spread on glass, fibronectin and laminin. Sarcomatous cells adhered more than epitheliomatous cells on glass and fibronectin (p less than 0.05), most on fibronectin. The two lines did not differ significantly on laminin. Epitheliomatous cells spread markedly only on laminin. In groups of six rats, sarcomatous cells injected into a vein killed the rats in a mean of 24.7 days, against 27.3 days for epitheliomatous cells. The rats died of lung metastases. Injected under the skin, epitheliomatous cells killed faster: 48.5 days, against 54.7 days for sarcomatous cells (54.5 in the article's table). Both differences had p less than 0.01. The authors concluded the metastasis results were consistent with what the adhesion tests predicted. About 5% of each culture showed features of the other cell type.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory study: experiments on cultured rat mesothelioma cells (adhesion and spreading measured by microscopy) plus a metastasis bioassay in rats
• Who was studied: Two cell lines (sarcomatous and epitheliomatous) derived from a single biphasic mesothelioma that arose in a Fischer 344 rat 9 months after asbestos injection. For each metastasis assay, six rats were used per cell type.
• Exposure: Rats were injected intraperitoneally with 50 mg of crocidolite asbestos in saline to induce the tumours. The cell lines were then tested on glass, fibronectin and laminin substrates, and 1 million cells were injected into rats intravenously or subcutaneously.
• Main results:
  • Sarcomatous cells adhered more than epitheliomatous cells on glass and on fibronectin (P < 0.05).
  • On laminin, adhesion of the two cell lines did not differ significantly.
  • For sarcomatous cells, adhesion ranked fibronectin > glass > laminin.
  • Epitheliomatous cells showed no significant differences in adhesion across the three substrates, except a slight but significant increase on laminin compared to glass at a relative grey level intensity of 0 (P < 0.05).
  • Sarcomatous cell spreading increased significantly on fibronectin and on laminin compared with glass (P < 0.005). Mean spreading factor (± S.E.) was 40.3 ± 4.3% on glass (n=15), 95.0 ± 3.5% on fibronectin (n=5) and 81.0 ± 6.0% on laminin (n=6).
  • Epitheliomatous cell spreading increased greatly on laminin compared with fibronectin and glass (P < 0.005). Mean spreading factor (± S.E.) was 12.0 ± 2.9% on glass (n=17), 14.2 ± 7.8% on fibronectin (n=14) and 66.0 ± 9.0% on laminin (n=5).
  • Intravenous route, six rats per group: mean survival was 24.7 ± 1.5 (S.D.) days with sarcomatous cells and 27.3 ± 0.9 (S.D.) days with epitheliomatous cells (P < 0.01).
  • Subcutaneous route, six rats per group: mean survival was 48.5 ± 0.5 (S.D.) days with epitheliomatous cells. For sarcomatous cells the printed abstract gives 54.7 ± 0.7 (S.D.) days and Table 2 gives 54.5 ± 0.7 days (P < 0.01).
  • The rats in the metastasis assays died of lung metastases.
  • Adhesion of both cell lines showed grey close contacts rather than dark focal adhesions.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the metastasis bioassay results were consistent with the behavior predicted from each cell line's ability to adhere to substrates in the in vitro tests.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The cell cultures were not phenotypically pure: about 5% of cells in each culture showed characteristics of the other type.
  • The authors stated it was unclear how the less adherent epitheliomatous cells reattach at new sites.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Metastasis.

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