Cell configuration and adhesive properties of metastasizing and non-metastasizing BSp73 rat adenocarcinoma cells.

The pattern of cell substrate interaction, the cell surface composition and the organization of cytoskeletal elements was studied in tumour cell variants of the BSp73 rat adenocarcinoma displaying different metastatic capabilities and cell configuration. The non-metastasizing AS variant cells adhered to the substrate and spread via vinculin-containing focal contacts. These cells also synthesized, secreted and assembled fibronectin at the pericellular area. The metastasizing ASML variant cells adhered to the substrate at a slower rate via thick cytoplasmic protrusions, but were removed from the substrate by trypsin-EDTA slower than the non-metastasizing AS variant cells. The ASML cells also synthesized very low levels of both vinculin and fibronectin, displayed a diffuse pattern of actin and tubulin organization, and were unable to spread on the substrate. Spreading could not be induced in the ASML cells by seeding the cells on an extracellular matrix derived from bovine corneal endothelial cells or on concanavalin A (conA)-coated substrates, or by the addition of db-cAMP to the medium. The metastasizing cells expressed a unique and abundant cell surface glycoprotein of Mr 170 000 which was also shed into the growth medium. The relationships among the adhesive properties, the organization of cell surface components and of the cytoskeleton in the tumour cell variants, and the expression of their metastatic phenotype is discussed.