Gompertzian growth pattern correlated with phenotypic organization of colon carcinoma, malignant glioma and non-small cell lung carcinoma cell lines

In the current study we present a Gompertzian model for cell growth as a function of cell phenotype using six human tumour cell lines (A-549, NCI-H596, NCI-H520, HT-29, SW-620 and U-251). Monolayer cells in exponential growth at various densities were quantified over a week by sulforhodamine B staining assay to produce cell-growth curves. A Gompertz equation was fitted to experimental data to obtain, for each cell line, three empirical growth parameters (initial cell density, cell-growth rate and carrying capacity - the maximal cell density). A cell-shape parameter named deformation coefficient D (a morphological relationship among spreading and confluent cells) was established and compared by regression analysis with the relative growth rate parameter K described by the Gompertz equation. We have found that coefficient D is directly proportional to the growth parameter K . The fit curve significantly matches the empirical data (P < 0.05), with a correlation coefficient of 0.9152. Therefore, a transformed Gompertzian growth function was obtained accordingly to D. The degree of correlation between the Gompertzian growth parameter and the coefficient D allows a new interpretation of the growth parameter K on the basis of morphological measurements of a set of tumour cell types, supporting the idea that cell-growth kinetics can be modulated by phenotypic organization of attached cells.