Phenotypic markers in human skin fibroblasts as possible diagnostic indices of hereditary adenomatosis of the colon and rectum

Hereditary adenomatosis of the colon and rectum (ACR) and its Gardner's syndrome variant, an autosomal dominant trait, indicate a propensity for neoplasia. The present study describes the growth abnormalitites of cultured human skin fibroblasts derived from normal‐appearing cutaneous biopsies of ACR genotypes and a portion of the clinically asymptomatic ACR progeny, first filial generation, and their differential susceptibility to transformation by Kirsten murine sarcoma virus. These skin fibroblasts, but not cells derived from unaffected individuals, showed lack of contact inhibition, decreased serum requirement for growth, elevated levels of plasminogen activator, and alterations in the intracellular distribution of actin cables; they did not, however, grow in the absence of anchorage, nor did they form palpable tumors in congenitally athymic BALB/c nu / nu mice, and they were normal with regard to cholesterol feedback regulation. Skin fibroblasts from ACR subjects were 100‐to 1000‐fold more susceptible to tranformation by the Kirsten murine sarcoma virus than were normal cells. The virally transformed skin fibroblasts were anchorage‐independent and formed tumors in athymic mice. These growth abnormalitites represent steps in the changing phenotypic expression of cells undergoing neoplastic transformation. Identification of abnormal expressions associated with oncogenesis may facilitate their use as diagnostic indices for the detection of latent forms of colon cancer in man.