In vitro invasive potential and type IV collagenolytic activity of human renal cell carcinoma cells derived from primary and metastatic lesions.

We investigated in vitro invasiveness and type IV collagenolytic activity of cells from a primary and a metastatic lesion of a patient with renal cell carcinoma. The temporarily cultured cells (SRCC-1P) derived from the primary lesion and those (SRCC-1M) from the metastatic lesion exhibited positive staining for both cytokeratin and vimentin, indicating that they were of renal cell carcinoma origin. An in vitro invasion assay revealed that the cells of SRCC-1M were significantly more invasive than those of SRCC-1P, which showed only marginal invasion. Type IV collagenolytic activity correlated with the in vitro invasiveness, in which SRCC-1M apparently had the higher activity. These results indicate that type IV collagenolytic activity contributes to the invasiveness of the cells in vitro.