Angiogenic activity of malignant oral epithelial cells: a preliminary study

We investigated the angiogenetic capacity of normal and malignant oral epithelial cells by intradermal injection of cells into nude mice. Cells investigated: 1) a tumorigenic cell line from rat palate; 2) a non-tumorigenic epithelial cell line from rat palate; 3) cells from second passage of rat palate epithelium explant cultures; 4) cells from epidermis of neonatal mice. A 0.1 ml suspension containing 10(5) epithelial cells was injected into the flank region. Mice were killed 8 days later to evaluate angiogenesis. Under a dissection microscope, the number of vessels in the skin adjacent to the injection site was counted. The tumorigenic cell line demonstrated the strongest angiogenetic capacity and the non-tumorigenic cell line was more angiogenic than any of the other non-tumorigenic cell types. The greater angiogenic activity of neoplastic oral epithelial cells may be a useful feature in the evaluation of oral malignant development.