Secretion of a 97 kilodalton glycoprotein by primary cultures of human ovarian epithelial tumor cells

Abstract

The epithelial cells from both control and neoplastic ovaries were grown as primary cultures. The outgrowth of epithelial cells occurred within 3–5 days and the cells formed essentially a monolayer culture covering more than 80% of the surface of the flask within 5 weeks. The incorporation of [ 3H] fucose into the glycoproteins secreted into the medium was measured in the cells grown for 4 weeks. The secretion of glycoproteins in the tumor cells was twice that of the control. Analysis of the glycoproteins in the medium showed that the ovarian epithelial tumor cells secreted predominantly a 97 kilodalton glycoprotein. The growth of fibroblasts could be inhibited in these cultures by using Falcon Primaria culture flasks and the growth medium containing D-valine.