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Clonal stimulation or inhibition of human colon carcinomas and human renal carcinomas mediated by transforming growth
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
Abstract:
We examined various human carcinomas and cells populating a single human neoplasm to determine whether they exhibit a heterogeneous response to the effects of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta). Using recently established human colon carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma under defined in vitro conditions, we observed intertumoral and intratumoral heterogeneity and polarity of responses to TGF-beta (growth inhibition or stimulation) that did not correlate with the metastatic phenotype of the cancer cells as assessed in athymic nude mice. TGF-beta mediated both cytostatic and cytolytic effects against sensitive tumor cells, and these responses were not related to the effects of TGF-beta on the cell-cycle traverse. The human colon carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma, however, exhibited differences in the expression of TGF-beta receptors.