Melanoma cells growing in aggregates on a non-adhesive poly(HEMA) substrate exhibit polykaryocytosis but do not develop an increased metastatic capability

Abstract

B16-F1 melanoma cells were plated onto plastic tissue-culture dishes rendered non-adhesive for cells by coating with 0.12 per cent poly(2-hydroxyethyl methylacrylate), poly(HEMA). These growth conditions caused the normally flat, adherent B16-F1 cells to grow as single cells in suspension. Within 24 hours, the rounded cells formed aggregates and grew at a slower rate than control cells grown at the same density on untreated plastic dishes. Microscopic observations provided evidence that polykaryocytosis was occurring among the aggregates. Following replating onto standard adhesive tissue-culture plastic, 20-30 per cent of the aggregates were observed to contain varying numbers of multinucleated giant cells (polykaryocytes). The study has revealed a previously undescribed propensity of certain B16-F1 cells cultivated as aggregates in suspension to develop into polykaryocytes, most probably as a result of spontaneous tumor cell-tumor cell fusion. The possible relevance of this behavior in vitro to events in tumor progression is discussed. This study, however, does not support the findings of others that the metastatic capability of B16-F1 cells is increased by such non-adherent culture conditions. No increase in metastatic potential was observed for B16-F1 cells, or for a low metastatic clone (F1-7) derived from it, grown for 72 or 96 hours in a spherical configuration compared to control cells grown in a flat, adherent monolayer.

Soft biological materials and their impact on cell function

“…Examples include glycation 77 and enzyme-induced 78 stiffening of collagen matrices, improved mechanical properties of tissue-engineered blood vessels by addition of retinoic and ascorbic acid, 79 as well as remodeling of collagen constructs by mechanical stresses. 80 In addition to the examples cited above, many other novel materials based on synthetic hydrogels such as polyethylene glycol, 81 polyacrylate derivatives, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methylacrylate), 82 and polyelectrolyte multilayers 83,84 are being designed for use in many different cellular systems. The synthetic hydrogels can be made alone or in combination with natural biopolymers such as polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans, and protein polymers.…”

Comparison of basement membrane matrix degradation by purified proteases and by metastatic tumor cells

“…B16 cells grown in a rounded state on polyhema substrates have been reported to exhibit a greater lung-colonizing ability than their tissue culture plastic-grown counterparts [55]. More recently, this finding has been questioned [56]. Nonetheless, we postulated that such rounded cells might exhibit increased degradative activity, since it has been reported that collagenase activity of similarly rounded synovial cells is increased over that of their "flat" counterparts [57].…”

KIAA0100 Modulates Cancer Cell Aggression Behavior of MDA-MB-231 through Microtubule and Heat Shock Proteins

“…The stable cell line HEK293/pKIA was established by screening the transfected cells with 300 ug/mL Geneticin (ThermoFisher). For cell culture in suspension, the culture plates were coated with poly-HEMA as described before [ 71 ].…”