Procoagulant and fibrinolytic activity of human ovarian carcinoma cells in culture

Abstract We have investigated here the coordinate expression of both procoagulant (PCA) and fibrinolytic (FA) activity of cells from 16 human ovarian carcinoma cases. To avoid interference of contaminating host cells, we used cells isolated in primary culture from ascitic fluid or from solid tumor. The FA was determined in cellular extracts by an amidolytic assay in the presence of fibrin monomers. FA, which was plasminogen dependent in almost all of the cases, showed a wide range of activity (from 0.001 to 2.30 UK units/mg protein). The molecular analysis of plasminogen activator (by SDS-PAGE and fibrin autography) showed a single molecular form of 52,000 daltons , inhibited by an antibody against human urokinase. PCA, studied with a one stage clotting assay in disrupted cells, was of tissue thromboplastin type in all instances and varied from 12.0 to 1300 thromboplastin units/ 10 4 cells. No simple correlation was found between FA and PCA in the cellular samples studied; moreover, for neither parameter was it possible to find any changes with the staging of the disease.