Background: Osteosarcomas are malignant bone tumors consisting of cells with abnormal cellular functions. Although osteosarcoma-derived cells are commonly used for osteoblastic models, the molecular composition of the osteosarcoma extracellular matrix (ECM) is not well characterized.
Materials and methods: We compared three osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63, Saos-2 and U-2 OS) with normal human osteoblasts by immunocytochemistry. Cellular characteristics were assessed by morphometric analysis and proliferation kinetics.
Results: All investigated osteosarcoma cell lines exhibited very heterogeneous labelling profiles and each differed significantly from that of normal osteoblasts. Saos-2 cells revealed the most mature osteoblastic labelling profile while U-2 OS cells were negative for most of the investigated osteoblastic markers.
Conclusion: We conclude that each osteosarcoma cell line exhibits a characteristic labelling profile and thus produces a differently composed extracellular matrix. This can be used in attempts to better characterize osteosarcoma, a as well as for their diagnosis.