EFFECT OF MATRIGEL ON THE TUMORIGENICITY OF HUMAN BREAST AND OVARIAN-CARCINOMA CELL-LINES

The effect of Matrigel, a solubilised tissue basement membrane extract , has been investigated on the tumorigenicity of 3 breast (MCF-7, T47D and MDA.MB.231) and 5 ovarian [PEOI, PEOI cDDPr, PEO4, PEO14 and OV(h yg)CAR3] carcinoma cell lines. In the absence of Matrigel, the PE014 a nd MDA.MB.231 cell lines produced take rates of 30% and 50%, respectiv ely, while the other cell lines either did not develop or only occasio nally developed as tumours. With Matrigel, 100% take rates were achiev ed for 7 of the 8 cell lines (MCF-7, T47D, MDA.MB.231, PEOI, PEOI cDDP r, PEO4 and PEOI4); in the remaining cell line [OV(hyg)CAR3] 2/6 (33%) tumours grew. Xenografts established with Matrigel could be transferr ed into recipient animals and grown in the absence of Matrigel, sugges ting that Matrigel is necessary only for initial establishment of tumo urs. Furthermore, cells which had been re-established from a T47D xeno graft and then inoculated into mice without Matrigel showed a take rat e greater than that of the original cell line but less than that of th e xenograft. In conclusion, Matrigel has proven to be extremely useful in establishing a variety of cell lines as xenografts.