Metastatic Potential of Lymphoma/Leukemia Cell Lines in SCID Mice Is Closely Related to Expression of CD44

To investigate whether the lymphocyte homing receptors, adhesion molecules regulating normal lymphocyte traffic, influence the dissemination of lymphoma cells, 24 lymphoma/leukemia cell lines were inoculated into SCID mice subcutaneously, and the correlation between the expression of the adhesion molecules and the metastatic potential of the cell lines was examined. Among the six adhesion molecules examined (LFA-1, ICAM-1, CLA, VLA-4, L-selectin and CD44), L-selectin increased the incidence of lymph node metastasis, and CD44 expression was related to both lymph node and organ (hematogenous) metastasis. A monoclonal antibody to the standard form of CD44 (CD44s), Hermes-3, inhibited the local growth and remote metastasis of CD44⁺ cell lines. Thus, it is concluded that at least CD44s expression is important in both lymphatic and hematogenous metastasis.