Expression of the alpha 6, beta 1 and beta 4 integrin subunits, basement membrane organization and proteolytic capacities in low and high metastatic human colon carcinoma xenografts.

Malignant transformation is associated with alterations in both cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. The E2 and C5 clones, derived from the human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo cell line, show, respectively, low and high metastatic capacity as experimental xenografts in vivo. In this study, we have assessed the adhesion and spreading of E2 and C5 cells on basement membrane laminin, expression of the laminin receptor integrins alpha 6 beta 1 and alpha 6 beta 4 and expression of gelatinolytic and plasminogen-dependent activities. On days 5 and 7 after subcutaneous grafting to immunosuppressed newborn rats, well-differentiated E2 tumors displayed a polarized expression of these integrin subunits, with the exception of the beta 1 subunit which remained pericellular. In contrast, C5 tumors were unorganized and the three integrin subunits remained nonpolarized and pericellular. Flow cytometry results showed that the expression of alpha 6 beta 1 and alpha 1 beta 4 integrins was weaker in the highly metastatic C5 clone than in the E2 clone whereas laminin expression was not significantly different. Under-expression and pericellular localization of these integrin receptors in C5 cells as compared to E2 cells may explain the difference in their binding and spreading capacity on laminin, organization of peritumoral basement membrane and maintenance of a differentiated phenotype. Whereas similar levels of gelatinolytic and plasminogen activator activities have been detected in the culture supernatant of the two clones, histozymograms showed that plasminogen-dependent caseinolysis appeared earlier in sections of C5 and parental tumors than in those of E2 xenografts. These results suggest that enhanced aggressiveness of C5 tumors in vivo may be linked to both an impairment of basement membrane setting due to integrin underexpression and distribution and of proteolytic activities modulated by tumor/host interactions.