Partial purification of a protein growth inhibitor from multicellular spheroids.

We report the partial purification of growth inhibitors extracted from human and mouse multicellular tumor spheroids with extensive necrosis. Sephadex G-100 column chromatography of spheroid extracts separated inhibitory fractions which eluted just after the void volume of the column. Identical chromatography of monolayer cell extracts showed no inhibitory activity. High-performance liquid chromatography of spheroid extracts separated single active peaks at apparent molecular weights of 80-89 kD. These extracts were extremely heat labile, and activity was destroyed by moderate trypsin treatment. The isolation of similar growth inhibitors from spheroids of two cell lines suggests that inhibition is important in tumor cell growth control in a three-dimensional situation.