Correlation of fibrinolytic activity with invasion and metastasis of R3230 AC rat mammary carcinoma cell lines.

The parent R3230 AC rat mammary carcinoma cell line and the two variant cell lines, R3230 AC MET and R3230 AC LR, differ with respect to their abilities to invade bony matrices and to form lung colonies (experimental metastases). Both the R3230 AC and the R3230 AC MET, a cell line selected in vivo for enhanced metastatic capability, express high potentials for invasiveness and lung colony formation, while the Con A- and WGA-resistant R3230 AC LR cell line grows expansively at the periosseus implantation site and is unable to form lung colonies after intravenous inoculation. The abilities to invade bone and to metastasize to the lung are well correlated with the fibrinolytic activity and the production of urokinase-type plasminogen activators. The contribution of plasminogen activators to invasiveness and metastasis has been ascribed to its role in the fibrinolytic and collagenolytic (i.e., activation of latent collagenase) cascades.