Similar expression profiles of a core of genes and proteins in cells that have acquired a metastatic phenotype, genetically or by in vivo evolution.

We compared gene expression patterns related to cancer progression, cell adhesion and cytokine expression in v-Src-transformed isogenic cell lines with different levels of metastatic aggressiveness in syngenic animals: a high (HM) and a low metastatic (LM) cell lines, both predetermined by in vitro oncogenic transformation, and a high metastatic (NM) cell line resulting from in vivo selection of grafted LM cells. While LM and NM shared a common v-Src transforming variant different from that of HM, gene expression patterns were similar in HM and NM but different from that of LM. In this model, the induction of the metastatic phenotype by an oncogene variant or by the host environment led to highly similar expression profiles. If confirmed in other models, these results would be relevant for the diagnosis and treatment of metastasis.