Contact reactions influencing cell locomotion of a mouse sarcoma in culture.

An investigation of the behaviour of cells of the mouse transplantable sarcoma S180 in culture by time-lapse cinematography has been made to determine how the spreading of a population from an explant is affected by contact reactions between the sarcoma cells; and how the invasion of a fibroblast population is affected by contact reactions with the fibroblasts. Although the sarcoma cells show a form of contact inhibition to each other, this has little influence on the spreading of a population, which is brought about very largely by diffusive movement, in sharp contrast to the spreading of a fibroblast population. The invasion of a fibroblast population by S180 cells takes place as a consequence of defective contact inhibition; though contact inhibition (but not contact paralysis) of the S180 cells has an appreciable incidence. During invasion the S180 cells, though moving on the exposed surfaces of the fibroblasts, may be largely using the collagen substratum between the fibroblasts for their locomotion. The arrangement of the fibroblasts produces some degree of contact guidance of the sarcoma cells.