Integrin expression and collagenase activity of RSV-transformed syrian hamster fibroblasts, differing in spontaneous metastasizing

The expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) specific receptors, integrins, and the activities of type IV collagenase and interstitial collagenase were investigated in two strains of oncogenically transformed fibroblasts, drastically differing in spontaneous metastasizing. Both strains were shown to express quite limited patterns of integrins. Of those, alpha(5) beta(1) integrin is greatly reduced on highly metastatic (HM) cells, while the expression of alpha(v) beta(3) is strongly suppressed on lowly metastatic (LM) fibroblasts, No differences between the strains were found in either intracellular or secreted activities of type IV collagenase, while the activity of interstittial collagenase, secreted by HM cells, was twice as much as secreted by LM cells. The results imply the role of cooperated modifications of integrin-directed cell-ECM interaction and collagenase activity in establishing a metastatic phenotype.