Abstract: Objective To explore the role of von Willebrand factor (hereinafter referred to as vWF) in the transplantation of human lung cancer with the different metastatic potential. Methods Low and high metastatic human lung cancer cell line A549 and D95 were cultured in vitro.The invasion and migration of lung cancer cells were detected by Transwell assay.Ten Balb/c nude mice were randomly divided into A549 group and D95 group(n=5).Then 0.2 mL of two tumor cell suspensions(the concentration was about 1×10⁷/mL) were subcutaneously injected respectively into the left upper limb of nude mice in A549 group and D95 group,to establish the xenograft model of human lung cancer in nude mice. The effects of vWF on transplantation tumor were analyzed.The level of vWF in peripheral blood was evaluated by ELISA.The expression of vWF protein in transplanted tumor was measured by immunohistochemistry.The expression of vWF protein in transplanted tumor, lung and liver was examined by Western blot. Results The number of invasion and migration of D95 lung cancer cells in vitro was more than that of A549 group(P＜0.05).After subcutaneous inoculation, all nude mice in the D95 group presented cancer nodules on the 5th day, and all nude mice in the A549 group did on the 7th day.Compared with the A549 group,the transplanted tumor mass and the quantity of lung metastatic tumor nodules in D95 group significantly increased(P＜0.05).Meanwhile,the expression of vWF protein in the transplanted tumor, lung and liver tissue were remarkably higher than that in the A549 group(P＜0.01). Conclusions vWF is closely related to the metastatic potential of human lung cancer cells.

Key words: vWF, metastatic potential, transplanted tumor