Expression of the 37-kDa laminin binding protein in murine lung tumor cell correlates with tumor angiogenesis

Expression of the 37-kDa laminin binding protein (37LBP), a precursor protein of the 67-kDa laminin receptor, correlates well with the biological aggressiveness of cancer cells. Previously, we have established murine lung cancer cell lines T11 and T15, in which 37LBP expression was remarkably diminished, and reported that the mean survival time of the T11 and the T15-recipients was significantly prolonged compared with that of the control cell lines (P29 and T42). In the present study, immunohistochemical findings of the tumors demonstrated that the microvessel density in the T11 (28.1±7.2/mm2) and in the T15 tumor (29.7±6.5/mm2) were significantly lower than that observed in P29 (46.3±8.7/mm2) or in T42 (50.5±4.4/mm2). Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was repressed in T11 and T15 compared with its expression in P29 and T42. It was also shown that conditioned media of T11 and T15 cells exhibited significantly reduced proliferation and migration of the capillary endothelial cells. These results suggest that decreased expression of 37LBP in antisense-RNA transfectant may relate to its low tumorigenicity, and that this effect may be partly caused by the diminished tumor angiogenesis of murine lung cancer.