Properties of B16-F10 murine melanoma cells subjected to metabolic stress conditions

Neoplastic cells which co-form tumors are usually subjected to various stress factors, mainly hypoxia and shortage of nutrient factors. Such cells employ different strategies that permit their survival under such conditions. Experiments in vitro are usually carried out in the presence of 21% oxygen and medium supplemented with 10% FBS. Altering these parameters can approximate the in vivo conditions found within tumor mass. The present paper reports certain properties (especially ability to metastasize) of B16-F10 cells able to grow upon exposure to altered growth conditions (medium supplemented with 0.06% FBS or presence of 1% oxygen for 24 or 72 hours). These properties were compared with those of control cells cultured in the presence of 21% oxygen and in medium supplemented with 10% FBS. Some properties of the cells exposed to medium supplemented with 0.06% FBS differ from those of cells cultured under low oxygenation conditions (ability to form metastases, to migrate, or to express various proteins). Only the partial deprivation of oxygen did increase both the number of migrating cells and the number of metastases formed. Serum deficiency enhanced only the cell ability to metastasize, but not to migrate. It appears that cultured B16-F10 cells employ different adaptation strategies under conditions of oxygen shortage and those of serum deficiency. Under oxygen deprivation, such cells most likely undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition, whereas serum deficiency ("starvation"), while increasing the tumorigenicity of B16-F10 cells, does not induce the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.