Functional Properties of Hormonally Responsive Cultured Normal and Malignant Rat Osteoblastic Cells*

Abstract

Certain metabolic properties of hormonally responsive osteogenic sarcoma cells derived from a transplantable rat tumor have been compared with those of related normal rat bone cells. All studies were carried out on cells grown in monolayer culture. Normal rat bone cells were derived by repeated collagenase/trypsin digestion of newborn rat calvaria. Bone cells selected for comparison were thought to be osteoblast-like, as judged by enrichment of alkaline phosphatase and adenylate cyclase responsiveness to parathyroid hormone and prostaglandin E₂. The adenylate cyclases of the two cell strains were similarly stimulated by a range of prostanoids and their metabolites and analogs. Morphology showed the two cell strains to be similar; the only obvious difference was a multilayering of cells in the sarcoma cultures, while the normal cultures showed abundant extracellular fibril formation which was not seen in the tumor cells. Investigation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase isoenzymes showed the presence of two forms in both cell types, one eluting at a low salt concentration and the other at a high salt concentration. There was approximately twice the amount of the first isoenzyme compared to the second isoenzyme. The results indicate the usefulness of the two cell strains to elucidate further the molecular mechanisms of action of parathyroid hormone and prostaglandins.