The acquisition of anchorage-independence is an important hallmark of malignant transformation and is thought to be one of the critical factors in the metastasis and dissemination of cancer. We describe here the establishment and characterization of a novel human ovarian cancer cell line, TAC3, which has high anchorage-independent growth ability. This cell line has unique growth properties. Whereas TAC3 cells grew in an adherent manner on collagen-coated dishes, they grew in a non-adherent manner on plain culture dishes. Stable exponential growth was observed under both adherent and non-adherent conditions. Western blot analysis indicated that TAC3 had both strong expression of Bcl-2 and detachment-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and it was suggested that the detachment-induced proliferation signal would join the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade at the level of MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK). Pharmacologic MEK inhibitor U0126 inhibited the growth of TAC3; it was more effective with non-adherent cells than with adherent cells. The TAC3 cell line may therefore be a useful tool for the investigation of the mechanisms of anchorage-independence and for the development of new treatment strategies, such as signal therapy, in human ovarian cancer.

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