Human colon cancer and fibroblast cell lines cultured in and on collagen gels.

Collagen is the major constituent of the in vivo extracellular matrix environment and the ability of collagen substrates to support growth of cultured cells in vitro is well recognized. The aim of the present study was to examine in vitro proliferation and matrix-binding of cells obtained from a human colon fibroblast and four colon cancer cell lines cultured in a collagen matrix environment. In contrast to colon fibroblasts, colon cancer cell lines proliferated in this culture system and their proliferative capacities were dependent upon the collagen concentration and whether tumour cells were seeded on or in the collagen. Both laminin and fibronectin stimulated growth of one of the four colon cancer cell lines without an apparent increase in cell-matrix binding. The use of collagen matrices to culture tumour cells in vitro might facilitate identification of factors which regulate growth of an individual's colorectal cancer.