Fibronectin enhances in vitro monocyte-macrophage-mediated tumoricidal activity

Control of neoplastic proliferation reflects in part monocyte/macrophage destruction of target cells - destruction that evidently requires cell-cell interaction. We herein show it to involve the natural plasma opsonin, fibronectin. With two cultured human tumor lines - Malme melanoma and CAK-I renal carcinoma cells - addition of fibronectin, purified to homogeneity, enhances macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity 2-4 fold (p<0.01). Both fresh human monocytes or the U-937-cultured macrophage line become more lethal to tumor cells with added fibronectin. The fibronectin-enhanced monocyte and U-937 tumoricidal activity occurred in a dose-dependent fashion. Specificity of fibronectin's action was validated by use of affinity-purified rabbit, antifibronectin antibody, which completely abated its enhancement of tumoricidal activity. Enhancement of tumoricidal activity did not occur when monocytes or U-937 were exposed to fibronectin-coated plates. However, the addition of soluble fibronectin-coated plates was then capable of enhancing cytocidal activity. These studies demonstrate that human fibronectin is capable of increasing both fresh and cultured human monocyte cumor-directed cytotoxicity. Fibronectin appears to be a potentially important circulating molecule that may favorably influence human monocyte tumor cell cytotoxicity.