Platelet factors induce chemotactic migration of murine mammary adenocarcinoma cells with different metastatic capabilities.

The chemotactic response of neoplastic cells (NC) induced by soluble platelet factors was investigated. NC suspensions isolated from murine mammary gland adenocarcinomas having different metastatic capabilities were incubated in Boyden's chambers and challenged with (1) 'Early Platelet Factors' (EP), obtained from the soluble fraction of recently collagen-activated human platelets, and (2) 'Late Platelet Factors' (LP), isolated after 24 hours incubation of the platelet aggregates. Chemotaxis was expressed as the distance travelled by NC through nitrocellulose filters. NC isolated from M3, the tumour line having the stronger metastatic potential, showed a significant chemotactic response towards LP factors, whereas NC from the M2 line exhibiting the lower metastatic behaviour, showed a chemotactic response towards EP factors. Both tumour cell lines lacked motion capability towards the well known chemoattractant peptide N-f-Met-Leu-Phe-Phe as well as to serum, plasma, collagen type I or culture medium. The different chemotactic response of both tumour lines when they were challenged by concentration gradients of factors released by early or late collagen-activated human platelets, confirm a relationship between platelet activity and metastatic capabilities and suggests that platelet chemoattractants might play a role in the metastatic dissemination of these mammary gland adenocarcinomas.