PRODUCTION OF BASIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH-FACTOR (BFGF) BY HUMAN OSTEOSARCOMA CELL-LINES - AUTOCRINE-LIKE REGULATION OF THEIR GROWTH AND CHEMOTAXIS BY BFGF

Serum-free supernatant of cultured human osteosarcoma cells (MG-63 and HOS) stimulated their own DNA synthesis and chemotaxis. These effects of the supernatant were significantly inhibited by the addition of monoclonal antibody against basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to the culture medium. These cell lines, when examined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Northern blot analysis, produced a large amount of bFGF. In addition, bFGF produced by MG-63 and HOS cells stimulates their own proliferation and chemotaxis. These results suggest that bFGF, added exogenously or secreted by MG-63 and HOS cells, stimulates their chemotaxis and proliferation in an paracrine- or autocrine-like loop and, in this way, plays an important part in the control of growth and metastatic process of osteosarcoma.