Correlation between plasminogen activator activity of immunizing tumor cells and complement-mediated cytotoxic antibodies secreted by cloned hybrid cells.

The present studies examined the biochemical characteristics which were carried on from parent cells during fusion of human skin fibroblasts (HSF) with spleen cells of BALB/c mice preimmunized with hormone-responsive and nonresponsive human malignant melanoma cells (HMMC-ShA and HMMC-SR). The melanoma cells used as immunogens were either unmodified or preincubated with vibrio cholera neuraminidase (VCN), with estradiol (E), or with progesterone (P). Responsiveness was monitored by (3H) thymidine and (35S) methionine incorporation. Responsiveness to estradiol, concanavalin A (Con A) and to phytoheamagglutinin (PHA) were carried out, whereas malignancy was suppressed extensively in the cloned hybrids. On the immunizing tumor cells, VCN treatment enhanced (3H) thymidine but reduced (35S)-methionine incorporation and malignancy of the estradiol responsive melanoma cells (HMMC-ShA). VCN treatment enhanced (3H)-thymidine incorporation, but had no effect on (35S)-methionine incorporation and malignancy of the estradiol nonresponsive HMMC-SR cells. Estradiol treatment enhanced plasminogen activator (PA) activity and malignancy, whereas progesterone treatment reduced (inhibited) plasminogen activator activity and suppressed malignancy of the immunizing tumor cells. The PA from estradiol-responsive and from nonresponsive melanoma cells differed in their electrophoretic mobility on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.