Extracellular matrix modulates the function of human melanocytes but not melanoma cells

Normal human epidermal melanocytes are attached to a basement membrane, a specialized form of extracellular matrix (ECM), located between the epitheliumand underlying dermal tissues. To determine whether ECM influences pigmented cell behavior in vitro, human epidermal melanocytes and melanoma cells were cultured on uncoated or ECM‐coated plastic culture surfaces, and a comparison was made between growth and function in the presence or absence of ECM. Melanocytes cultured on ECM‐coated surfaces developed flatter and larger cell bodies and produced more melanin than melanocytes cultured on uncoated surfaces. In the presence of phorbol‐myristate‐acetate and cholera toxin, the rate of melanocyte replication was increased by ECM. In the absence of these mitogens, ECM significantly enhanced the adhesiveness of nonproliferating melanocytes. ECM had little or no effect on these parameters (morphology, tyrosinase activity, replication) in a pigmented human malignant melanoma cell line. These findings indicate that normal human epidermal pigment cells have the ability to recognize and respond to matrix signals, whereas this capacity appears to be absent in melanoma cells.