Establishment of a human renal pelvic cancer cell line producing tissue thromboplastin and plasminogen activator

Fibrinolysis in cornea and conjunctiva: evidence of two types of activators

The nature of corneal and conjunctival plasminogen activators (PAs) from human and rabbit eyes was examined in tissue culture. The fibrinolytic activity of culture fluid from human corneas was low, roughly one-eighth of that of rabbits. The main activity was found to be of the urokinase (UK) type, as demonstrated by crossed immunoelectrophoresis against alpha 2-antiplasmin after incubation with mixed plasma. The fibrinolytic activity of culture fluid from human conjunctival tissue was higher and a mixed secretion of tissue type (tPA) and UK activator was demonstrated. These activators were separated by affinity chromatography against Sepharose-immobilized antibodies against tPA. Fibrinolytic activity in tears was quenched by antibodies against tPA but not by the use of anti-UK antibodies. Thus, in man, tear fibrinolytic activity may depend primarily on a release of PAs from conjunctival tissue.

Invasiveness of transformed bladder epithelial cells

The invasiveness of bladder tumors has been studied in man, experimental animals, and in tissue culture by numerous authors. The prognostic importance of cellular markers for invasiveness is stressed, and the usefulness of histopathological and cytologic grading, cytogenetic studies, antigenic investigations, and enzymatic characterization is discussed. The invasiveness of bladder cells has frequently been examined in transplantation and explantation experiments. In human urothelial cell cultures three grades of transformation are defined, and a correlation has been established between the invasiveness of these cell lines in a three-dimensional in vitro model and their tumorigenicity in nude mice. The mechanism of tumor invasion is discussed, and it is recommended in future research to make a distinction between invasion en bloc and cellular infiltration.

Human renal cell carcinoma: establishment and characterization of two new cell lines

Characterization studies have been carried out on 2 cell lines (KPK 1 and KPK 13) established from human renal adenocarcinoma. KPK 1 and KPK 13 have been passaged 178 times in vitro for about 6 years and 7 months and 78 times for about 3 years an 2 months, respectively. Although morphologic differences exist between the 2 lines, each has an epithelial morphology and exhibits multilayering. Doubling time of KPK 1 and KPK 13 cells was 29 hours and 51 hours, respectively. Both KPK 1 and KPK 13 induced tumors at the site of subcutaneous injection, closely resembling the original tumor from which they were derived. Chromosome number of both cell lines was 100 per cent aneuploid and the presence of Y chromosomes was confirmed by G banding in KPK 13 cells. KPK 1 was found to have high thromboplastic and high fibrinolytic activities, whereas KPK 13 was shown to have comparatively low thromboplastic and no detectable fibrinolytic activities. These activities were detected in the serum free supernatant fraction from KPK 1 cells but were not detected in that from KPK 13 cells.