Expression of laminin in metastatic melanoma cell lines with different metastatic potential.

摘要

Cancer metastasis is a complex multi-step process in which tumor cells leave the primary site and develop a secondary tumor in distant organs. Laminin plays an important role in this process. The expression of laminin in four melanoma cell lines with different metastatic potentials was investigated by immunohistochemistry, immunogold electron microscopy and Western blotting. Our results showed that the expression of endogenous laminin and the percentage of the positive cells are higher with increased metastatic potentials. It is, thus, suggested that endogenous laminin may contribute to the different metastatic properties in the melanoma cell line.