Extracellular cysteine proteinase and collagenase activities as a consequence of tumor-host interaction in the rabbit V2 carcinoma.

Specimens of the rabbit V2 carcinoma were maintained in organ culture to study the secretion of proteinases. Elastase-like, chymotrypsin-like, plasminogen activator-like, cathepsin B-like and collagenase activities were assayed with sensitive fluorimetric techniques. Of these enzymes, the only activities that were secreted in considerable amounts in primary cultures of tumor tissue were collagenase and a cysteine proteinase resembling cathepsin B. Co-cultures of intraperitoneally grown tumor and normal subcutaneous tissue of the rabbit resulted in significantly higher production of the cysteine proteinase and collagenase compared to the sum of the activities of the separate tissues. Explants of subcutaneous tissue of tumor-bearing rabbits secreted significantly more cysteine proteinase and collagenase than explants from normal animals. Explants from normal subcutaneous tissue stimulated with tumor-conditioned culture medium secreted both enzymes in higher amounts compared to the controls. The cysteine proteinase was similar in some properties to rabbit liver cathepsin B, but the enzyme from the tumor-host system showed a remarkable stability to a moderately alkaline pH. We suggest that a diffusible factor, derived from the tumor or immigrated cells, promotes an increased synthesis and secretion of collagenase and cysteine proteinase in the host, and that both enzymes may play cooperative roles during invasion of the surrounding tissues by the V2 carcinoma.