Establishment of a series of human lung cancer cell strains with stepwise metastatic potentials and its feature analysis

Objective:In order to provide the evidence to uncover the mechanisms for lung cancer metastasis,this study develops and characterizes a serial of human lung cancer cell strains with stepwise metastatic potentials.Methods:The different cell strains were isolated and cultured from a highly metastatic SPC-A-1sci cell line by using limited dilution and monoclonal method.The wound healing test and migration and invasion assays in vitro and spontaneous metastasis test in subcutaneously xenografted tumor in vivo were performed to compare the difference in the mobilization,migration,invasion,and metastatic potentials between isolated cell strains and its highly metastatic parent cell line(SPC-A-1sci).Results:Three different monoclonal cell strains(designated SPC-A-1sci-C5,SPC-A-1sci-F3,and SPC-A-1sci-C2) were isolated successfully from highly metastatic SPC-A-1sci cell line.The three cell lines had typical morphological features.Compared with parent SPC-A-1sci cells the invasion capability of SPC-A-1sci-C5 cells was markedly enhanced but the invasion capabilities of the other two cell lines were greatly weakened.There was a significant difference in the cell morphology and invasion capability between the three isolated cell lines.The invasion capability of SPC-A-1sci-C5 cells was stronger than that of the other two cell lines.Spontaneous metastasis test in subcutaneously xenografted tumor in vivo showed that the metastasis of SPC-A-1sci-C5 occurred early and the metastatic degree including the number and size of metastatic lesions were increased compared with the other two cell lines.Conclusion:This study successfully establishes three human lung cancer cell strains with stepwise metastatic potentials,which has same genetic background but different biologic behaviors.The study provides a well-defined cell model for further investigation on the molecular mechanisms for lung cancer metastasis.