Establishment and Characterization of Highly Liver Metastatic Cell Lines Derived from a Human Colon Cancer Cell Line

OCUC-LM1 (LM) was injected into the spleen of nude mice was repeated three and five times, and the daughter cell lines were designated as LM-H3 and LM-H5, respectively. LM-H3 and LM-H5 showed a greater potential for liver metastasis than LM. Electron microscopically, the numbers of microvilli on the surface of LM-H3 and LM-H5 were greater than LM. Nuclear DNA content and chromosome numbers of LM-H3 and LM-H5 were less than those of LM. The levels of sialyl Lewis A (SLA) in the supernatant of LM-H3 and LM-H5 were 3 and 4.5 times higher, respectively than that of LM. Flow cytometric analysis of SLA expression revealed that the peak channel for LM was 113; for LM-H3, 126; and for LM-H5, 146. The mean fluorescence intensity of LM was 102.3± 43.5; of LM-H3, 126.2±28.4; and of LM-H5, 144.8± 23.4. In endothelial cell adhesion assays, the percentages of adherent LM-H3 and LM-H5 cells were significantly higher than for LM. In conclusion, through repeated hepatic metastasis, LM cells became more easily metastasized to the liver and showed some different characteristics from those of the original cells.