Expression of cell adhesion molecules on ovarian tumour cell lines and mesothelial cells, in relation to ovarian cancer metastasis

A major route for the spread of ovarian cancer is by the attachment of tumour cells to the mesothelium lining in the peritoneal cavity. The expression of various adhesion molecules has been measured on freshly-prepared mesothelial cells, two mesothelial cells lines and 13 established ovarian tumour cell lines. The integrins β1 and β3, ICAM-I, and CD44 were detected on all mesothelial preparations and on many or all of the tumour lines. VCAM-I was expressed exclusively on the mesothelial cells and Lewis x was expressed on half of the tumour lines. There was low or no expression of sialyl Lex, sialyl Lea, integrins α4, β1, β4, or E and P selectins. Only CD44 expression was significantly affected by trypsin treatment. From the known interactions of adhesion molecules, the results suggest that CD44, and β1 and β3 integrins may be important in tumour/mesothelial interactions.