2002 Volume 43 Issue 12 Pages 3128-3130
Hyaluronic acid (HA), glycosaminoglycan, has long been implicated in malignant transformation and tumor-promoting activity. We found that 48 kDa molecular mass HA in vitro promotes tumor cell growth and tumorigenesis. The increase of cell growth rate in human hepatoma cells (HepG2 cells, cancer cells) and normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF cells, normal cells) treated with 48 kDa HA at 2×10−4 kg/L concentration were 110±0.9% and 103±0.5%, respectively. Colony formation activity of 4.8 kDa HA in cultured Balb/3T3 clone A3111 cells was higher than that of 48 kDa HA . However, transforming activity of HA was significantly showed in 48 kDa HA but not in 4.8 kDa HA . These findings suggest that 48 kDa HA has a tumor-promoting activity stronger than 4.8 kDa HA, because the former increase the cell growth of cancer cells than the latter. The increase of cell growth rate in HepG2 cells (cancer cells) and NHDF cells (normal cells) were compared among various molecular masses of HA.
