Secretion of a Fibronectin-Like Substance from Head and Neck Carcinomas

Abstract

The secretion of a fïbronectin-like substance in culture supernatants of cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas was observed. Culture supernatants of some tumor cells had a high cell-attachment activity. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with an antifibronectin antibody showed that the supernatant with cell attachment activity contained fibronectin. Furthermore, the cell attachment activity was clearly inhibited by the addition of a monoclonal antibody to fibronectin. These findings strongly suggest that the fibronectin produced by cancer cells is one of the potent mediators of the cell attachment.