Regular paper Properties of B16-F10 murine melanoma cells subjected to metabolic stress conditions*

Neoplastic cells which co-form tumors are usually sub-jected to various stress factors, mainly hypoxia and shortage of nutrient factors. Such cells employ different strategies that permit their survival under such condi-tions. Experiments in vitro are usually carried out in the presence of 21 % oxygen and medium supplemented with 10 % FBS. Altering these parameters can approxi-mate the in vivo conditions found within tumor mass. The present paper reports certain properties (especially ability to metastasize) of B16-F10 cells able to grow upon exposure to altered growth conditions (medium supplemented with 0.06 % FBS or presence of 1 % oxy-gen for 24 or 72 hours). These properties were compared with those of control cells cultured in the presence of 21 % oxygen and in medium supplemented with 10% FBS. Some properties of the cells exposed to medium supplemented with 0.06 % FBS differ from those of cells cultured under low oxygenation conditions (ability to form metastases, to migrate, or to express various pro-teins). Only the partial deprivation of oxygen did in-crease both the number of migrating cells and the num-ber of metastases formed. Serum deficiency enhanced only the cell ability to metastasize, but not to migrate. It appears that cultured B16-F10 cells employ different adaptation strategies under conditions of oxygen short-age and those of serum deficiency. Under oxygen depri-vation, such cells most likely undergo an epithelial-mes-enchymal transition, whereas serum deficiency (“starva-tion”), while increasing the tumorigenicity of B16-F10 cells, does not induce the epithelial-mesenchymal transi-tion