Carlsen S A, Ramshaw I A, Warrington R C
Cancer Res. 1984 Jul;44(7):3012-6.
The process of metastasis involves numerous steps, many of which are thought to require the action of hydrolases, such as collagenase and other proteases. In this study, we investigate the role of the protease plasminogen activator in the metastasis of the rat mammary adenocarcinoma 13762. We observed that this tumor cell line is heterogeneous with respect to plasminogen activator (PAA) production. Clonal tumor cell populations were isolated which produced various levels of PAA. This phenotypic property of these clones remained stable for long periods of in vitro culture and did not affect their tumorigenicity. When the metastatic potential of these clones was determined using the lung colony assay, a strong correlation between PAA and metastatic potential was found. Furthermore, a threshold level of PAA production was observed, above which the lung colony-forming ability of the cells increased dramatically. These studies suggest that PAA production may play an important role in tumor metastasis.
转移过程涉及众多步骤，其中许多步骤被认为需要水解酶的作用，如胶原酶和其他蛋白酶。在本研究中，我们调查了蛋白酶纤溶酶原激活剂在大鼠乳腺腺癌13762转移中的作用。我们观察到，该肿瘤细胞系在纤溶酶原激活剂（PAA）产生方面具有异质性。分离出了产生不同水平PAA的克隆肿瘤细胞群体。这些克隆的这种表型特性在长时间的体外培养中保持稳定，并且不影响它们的致瘤性。当使用肺集落测定法确定这些克隆的转移潜力时，发现PAA与转移潜力之间存在很强的相关性。此外，观察到了PAA产生的阈值水平，高于该水平，细胞的肺集落形成能力会急剧增加。这些研究表明，PAA的产生可能在肿瘤转移中起重要作用。
