Studies on confrontation of different tumor cells with human diploid fibroblasts.

Cells of two HeLa sublines (HeLa 1 and HeLa S) and of the rat tumor cell variants AS and ASML were confronted with human diploid lung fibroblasts (WI38). This "bilayer" system was established to study various cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions including the adhesion and spreading process of tumor cells. In this model system we could demonstrate that the behavior of different tumor cells is dependent on the environment. On the other hand, we could find an independence from species or strain barriers. This was demonstrated in the xenogenic combination of rat tumor cells and human fibroblasts.