Effect of insulin and epidermal growth factors on the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans/proteoglycans in cultured human malignant mesothelioma cells of different phenotypic morphology.

Two human malignant mesothelioma cell sublines, one with a fibroblast-like and the other with an epithelial differentiation, were examined for their capacity to synthesize glycosaminoglycans in the presence of IGF-I, EGF, and their combination. This synthesis depends on the morphology of the mesothelioma cells, with many-fold higher amounts of both hyaluronan and proteoglycans being produced by the cells with epithelial morphology than by those of the fibroblast phenotype. In both cell lines this synthesis was affected in a dose-dependent fashion by the exogenously added growth factors and exposure to IGF-I and EGF in combination showed a synergistic effect. This effect of those factors seems to be mediated via protein tyrosin kinase-dependent receptors and was different in the fibroblast-like and epithelial cells. The synthetic rates of the various glycosaminoglycans formed (hyaluronan, galactosaminoglycans and heparan sulfate) were also variously affected by these factors, indicating differences in how the synthesis of the various glycosaminoglycans is regulated. The results obtained suggest a close correlation between the presence of the appropriate growth factor(s), the process of cell differentiation and the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans in these cells.