Cathepsin B-like enzymes. Subcellular distribution and properties in neoplastic and control cells from human ectocervix.

Distribution of cathepsin B-like activity was determined in fractions of control and neoplastic epithelial cells from human ectocervix.Cells were isolated from specimens obtained at surgery and cultivated in chemically defined media.Neoplastic cells with a moderate rate of proliferation (NCE-1) were separated from those in the same primary tumor with higher replication rates (NCE-2).Both tumor and control cells were harvested in the logarithmic phase of growth and were disrupted and fractionated in buffered isotonic sucrose.