Lewis lung carcinoma variants with differing metastatic specificities adhere preferentially to different defined extracellular matrix molecules.

Differential cell adhesion has been proposed to play a role in organ-specific tumor metastasis. To further explore this hypothesis, we have employed a Lewis lung carcinoma cell line and 2 variants that differ in their ability to metastasize to lung and liver. The three cell lines were tested for their ability to adhere to defined extracellular matrix components that had been previously adsorbed to nylon membranes. Our results demonstrate that the parental cell line adheres preferentially to fibronectin relative to all other adhesion molecules tested. The lung colonizing variant, M27, adheres well to fibronectin and also to type V collagen but adheres poorly to laminin, to types I and VI collagen or to heparan sulfate. In contrast, the liver colonizing H59 cell line was highly adherent to laminin as well as to fibronectin but did not adhere to heparan sulfate or to any of the collagen types tested. These results demonstrate that three related cell lines with differing metastatic specificities have marked differences in their abilities to bind to defined matrix molecules. Such differences may play a role in the preferential localization to specific organ beds in vivo.