Enzymic composition and growth rate of human pleural mesothelioma transplants in nude mice.

J. F. Head, A. P. Chahinian, O. Greengard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The enzymic composition of 7 human mesothelioma lines propagated in nude mice was compared with 4 of the original and 15 additional mesotheliomas sampled during the patients' surgery. The xenografts exhibited several-fold higher thymidine kinase (TK), uridine kinase (UK), phosphoserine phosphatase (PSP) and peptidyl proline hydroxylase (PPH) concentrations than the fresh human samples, while their DNA, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and beta-galactosidase (Bgal) contents remained similar. The volume growth rate of the xenografts (doubling time, DT = 9.23 +/- 1.25 days) was much faster than that of tumors in the human host, and the decline of this rate with increasing nodule size was accompanied by decreases in TK and PSP concentrations. This first quantitative biochemical study of xenografted human neoplasms indicates that 1) pleural mesotheliomas, though preserving their histological characteristics after heterotransplantation, show considerable increases of enzymes in nucleic acid, collagen, and nonessential amino acid synthesis, and that 2) the concentration of TK is a good indicator of the different growth properties of tumors in a mouse rather than in the human host.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)127-136
Number of pages10
JournalCancer Biochemistry Biophysics
Volume12
Issue number2
StatePublished - Aug 1991

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Enzymic composition and growth rate of human pleural mesothelioma transplants in nude mice.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this