Modulation of the metastatic capability in B16 melanoma by cell shape.

The lung colonization of B16-F1 cells grown in flat and spherical configurations was studied. Cells cultivated in vitro as spheroids on a nonadhesive substrate expressed in a reversible fashion a marked increase in their propensity to establish metastases. The altered metastatic capability was accompanied by a reversible reduction in the accessibility of cell surface proteins to external iodination and by a dramatic decrease in the synthesis of vimentin.