Association between ICAM-1 expression and metastatic capacity of murine B-cell hybridomas

We previously reported that a derivative of the interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent B9 B-cell hybridoma (B9/LPNU1L) constitutively expressing an interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) gene introduced by retrovirus-mediated gene transfer preferentially metastasized to bone marrow following intravenous injection into unirradiated syngeneic BALB/c mice. B9/LPNU1L cells recovered from the femoral marrow of a recipient with hind limb paralysis (denoted B9/BM1) retained their IL-6-dependency yet displayed enhanced metastatic capacity during serial transplantation in vivo. In contrast, autonomously-growing B9 variants spontaneously arising in vitro or IL-6-independent B9 derivatives created by infection with recombinant IL-6 retroviruses rarely gave rise to experimental metastases in syngeneic BALB/c or nude mice. Examination of cell adhesion molecule profiles by immunofluorescence flow cytometry has revealed high levels of CD44, moderate levels of VLA-4 and low levels of LFA-1 on all B9-series cells. By comparison, ICAM-1 expression was significantly elevated on B9/BM1 cells, with independent isolates stably expressing about 4-fold higher levels which were paralleled by corresponding increases in the steady-state levels of ICAM-1 mRNA. L-Selectin was not expressed by any of the cell lines. Despite higher ICAM-1 levels, cell aggregation assays revealed that LFA-1-ICAM-1 adhesive interactions were not involved in the homotypic adhesion of B9/BM1 cells but rather that binding of CD44 to endogenously-synthesized hyaluronan was responsible. Furthermore, B9/BM1 cells expressing high levels of ICAM-1 were found to be less susceptible to cytolysis by natural killer (NK) cells than their weakly metastatic or nonmetastatic counterparts.