Fibrinolytic activity associated with cultured human neoplastic and normal cells

Abstract

Fibrinolytic activity was studied in a number of different established as well as secondary human cell cultures derived from both malignant and normal tissues. The ability to degrade [¹²⁵I]-labeled fibrin was found to be characteristic of some malignant cultures as well as some normal cultures, and to be dependent upon the presence of serum. For the most part, this activity was detected in cultures with a relatively shortin vitro passage history (100 passages) cultures of malignant cells (colon carcinoma, HeLa, Hep-2, KB) as well as normal cells (HEI, AV₃) were negative. It is proposed that although some normal cells synthesize plasminogen activators, the fibrinolytic capability of both malignant and normal cells may be lost on prolongedin vitro cultivation.