THE INVASIVENESS IN-VITRO OF BRAIN-TUMOR DERIVED CELLS DEPENDS ON THEIR MICRO-ECOSYSTEM

In order to investigate the invasiveness of brain tumours, fragments o f freshly resected tumours are transferred into cell culture vessels t o form monolayers. The tumour derived monolayer cells are tested in tw o different in vitro assays for invasiveness: the collagen type I gel1 3 and the embryonic chick heart9. Nine of the 10 tumour derived cells infiltrated into the collagen gel, independently of their clinical mal ignancy. Only 4 of the 10 tumour derived cells invaded the embryonic c hick heart. Invasion into chick heart in vitro correlated with maligna ncy in vivo. The results speak for the hypothesis that the micro envir onment of the embryonic chick heart allows expression of the invasive character of the brain tumour cells, while the collagen type I in cont rast indicates only cell motility.