Purpose: To study the invasion of retinoblastoma cells to ocular tissues.
Methods: The SO-Rb50 cells of retinoblastoma and various ocular tissue cells were co-cultured. The morphological change of the SO-Rb50 cells adherent to ocular tissue cells was observed.
Results: SO-Rb50 cells can adhere to the various ocular tissues. The adherent ability of SO-Rb50 cell to different ocular tissue cells was different. Tumor cells could be adhesive to keratocyte, scleral fibrocyte, the fibrocyte and the melanocyte of iris and choroid, the epithelial cells of lens, and the astrocyte of optic nerve and grow, but can not be adhesive to the corneal epithelial cell and retinal pigment epithelial cell.
Conclusions: We consider that the interactions of tumor cells with host cells, as with extracellular matrix, also play an important role in the selective growth of organ and tissue of tumor cell metastasis. Retinoblastoma cells can not adhere to retinal pigment epithelial cell, which may serve as a barrier to obstruct the invasion of tumor cell to the choroid. Being adherent to the glial cells of optic nerve, tumor cells grow in flat and the shape of tumor cell changes, which may be the cause of tumor cell migrate rapidly and grow in the brain while the optic nerve was invaded by tumor cells.