Procoagulant activity of human neuroblastoma cell lines, in relation to cell growth, differentiation and cytogenetic abnormalities

Procoagulant activity (PCA) was investigated in relation to cell growth, differentiation, and cytogenetics in seven human neuroblastoma cell lines. Before 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) treatment, PCA was notably heterogeneous, with the highest activity in NCG (S-type in morphology) 40- to 100-fold greater than the lowest activity in SK-N-DZ (N-type). PCA was not related to 1p abnormalities. After BrdUrd treatment at 5 micrograms/ml for 6 days, PCA increased 6.8-fold in GOTO and 2.7-fold in SK-N-DZ with associated growth inhibition and morphological changes (I-type morphology converted to S-type in GOTO and N-type converted to an advanced N-type in SK-N-DZ). In contrast, only growth suppression was observed in 2 other cell lines, and no changes in PCA, growth or morphology were induced in the remaining 3 cell lines.