The ability of cellular vascular components including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts to interact with the collagenolytic activity of invasive human tumor cell lines has been investigated. The human HT1080 fibrosarcoma and Bowe melanoma cells, which rapidly digest collagenous proteins in vitro, failed to dissolve them when cocultivated with bovine endothelial cells. This inhibition was not dependent on the ability of endothelial cells to form a monolayer separating the tumor cells from the collagenous substrate. In contrast, little collagenolysis inhibitory activity was detected in bovine vascular smooth muscle cells and human fibroblasts when compared to endothelial cells. Serum-free medium conditioned by endothelial cells inhibited tumor cell-mediated collagenolysis. Our data further suggest that this inhibition was mediated by secreted collagenase inhibitors, since endothelial cell-conditioned medium did not suppress the production of metalloproteinases by the tumor cells but inhibited the activities of collagenases derived from tadpole, rabbit, and human fibroblasts. Treatment of the endothelial cells with cycloheximide suppressed the collagenase inhibitory activity, demonstrating active production of collagenase inhibitors by the cells. Gel filtration chromatography of endothelial cell-conditioned medium allowed the separation of two distinct peaks with inhibitory activities for vertebrate collagenase in the molecular weight range of 70,000 to 75,000 and 30,000 to 35,000, respectively. While the inhibitor with an approximate molecular weight of 30,000 to 35,000 shared many properties with the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases, the high-molecular-weight inhibitor demonstrated characteristics not yet described for any collagenase inhibitor. The production and secretion of inhibitors of vertebrate collagenase by bovine endothelial cells may be of importance in the local control of collagen turnover under physiological as well as pathological conditions.