The relationship between adherence and liver metastatic ability in murine mastocytoma cell line

P815 murine mastocytoma cells were separated to plastic-adherent and -nonadherent cell populations by repetitive in vitro selections. Their abilities of experimental and spontaneous metastases were investigated in the syngeneic DBA/2 mice. While the plastic-adherent populations were found to be liver-metastatic, the plastic-nonadherent populations were liver-nonmetastatic. The inability of plastic-nonadherent P815 cells to metastasize to the liver did not mean that these cells were not tumorigeneic because they could metastasize to tissues and/or organs other than the liver. Hence it could be looked as inability for liver specific metastasis resulted from, or related to, the loss of plastic adhesiveness. By limiting dilution of plastic-adherent and -nonadherent P815 cells, two series of well comparable P815 clones were established: (1) plastic-adherent, liver-metastatic clone and (2) plastic-nonadherent, liver-nonmetastatic one. Since these two series of P815 clone are originated from a common parent line, they might be valuable in the study of the molecular mechanisms of liver specific metastasis and of the relations between liver metastasis and cell adhesiveness.