Establishment and characterization of a new human colon adenocarcinoma cell line: BCS-TC2

A new cell line designated as BCS-TC2 was established in culture from a primary human colon adenocarcinoma. This cell line has been in continuous culture over a 36-month period. The cells grow as a monolayer sheet, displaying areas with a multilayered pattern as well as single cells and free-floating aggregates. The morphological, immunological, and ultrastructural features of these cells are in agreement with their epithelial origin. The characterization of this cell line indicated a 38 hr doubling time, and a colony forming efficiency of 2% in semisolid media and 22% in liquid culture, at low cell densities. These cells produce low amounts of carcinoembryonic antigen in culture (0.1 ng of CEA/10⁶ cells). Sub-cutaneous injection into athymic mice shows that these cells have a non-tumorigenic capacity. Chromosomal analysis showed a karyotype 46 XX,-15, +der (15), inv (16) (p13::q13). BCS-TC2 cell line, which maintains in culture several characteristics of the original tumor, represents a useful model system for cell biology studies of primary and non-metastatic tumors.     

Establishment and growth kinetics of the mutant Ehrlich-Lettré ascites cell strain HD33 in permanent suspension culture

Cells of a mutant in vivo subline of the Ehrlich-Lettré mouse ascites tumour (ELAT) were converted to growth in suspension culture. Kinetic analysis revealed the selective character of the conversion process; without a detectable adaptation period, a fraction of about 2 X 10(-5) of the explanted cells continued to grow in vitro. The resulting, mutant Ehrlich-Lettré ascites cell strain was designated HD33 and propagated uninterruptedly from 1974 on. The corresponding in vivo ELAT subline HD33 was derived from the HD33 ascites cell strain by intraperitoneal retransplantation. In HD33 cell suspension cultures, the population doubling time, the average intermitotic interval, as determined by videomonitoring, and the average duration of the cell cycle, as determined from percentage of labelled mitoses (PLM) data, were all measured at 15 hr. Cell loss and quiescent compartments were insignificant. The duration of the G1 phase was effectively zero. Both PLM data and [3H]/[14C] thymidine double-labelling measurements revealed an S-phase duration of between 11 and 12 hr. The G2 phase lasted 3-5 hr. The HD33 strain differs from comparable suspension strains of wild-type Ehrlich ascites cells in the insignificant role of density-dependent inhibition in growth, and the striking prolongation of the S phase which is associated with an excessive, cytoplasmic storage of glycogen by the mutant cells.     

Establishment and characterization of two squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (HYVC and HMVC) derived from vulva

Two cell lines, HYVC and HMVC, were established from cultures of the squamous cell carcinoma removed from the vulva of females of 37 and 46 years old, respectively. These cell lines were very similar in their biological characteristics, such as morphology (polygonal), growth pattern (32-43 hr of population doubling time, 50-25% of plating efficiency), heterotransplantability (1 x 10(7) cells produced squamous cell carcinomas in the nude mice), genetics (75-78 of modal chromosomal number), and producing the tumor markers (SCC and TPA). The HPV-DNA was not detected in either the HYVC or HMVC lines by using L1-PCR methods, however, it was detected in the HYVC using E6/E7-PCR.     

Spontaneous acquisition of tumorigenicity and invasiveness by mouse lens explant cells during culture in vitro

Summary The lens of the eye is one of the rare organs in which tumors do not occur spontaneously. It therefore appeared to us that lens cells would not present the background of spontaneous transformation toward malignancy found with many other cell cultures. We have cultured C3H/HeA mouse lens explant (MLE) cells for 70 wk an analyzed changes in malignancy-related phenotypes in function of the number of passages. In vitro, we studied morphology, colony forming efficiency on tissue culture plastic substrate (CFEtc) and in soft agar, population doubling time, saturation density, and invasiveness into precultured chick heart fragments. In vivo, tumorigenicity, invasion, and metastasis were analyzed after injection of cell suspensions subcutaneously and intraperitoneally, after implantation of cells aggregated to collagen sponges under the renal capsule and after implantation of cell aggregates subcutaneously into the tail and into the pinna. The CFEtc, population doubling time, and saturation density increased as the number of passages of culture in vitro increased, but colony formation in soft agar was never observed. MLE cells till passage 16 were not invasive in vitro, but hereafter consistently were found to be invasive. After about 17 passages, corresponding to 25 wk of culture, MLE cells acquired the capacity to form tumors in syngeneic mice. These tumors were invasive but metastases were not observed, We concluded that MLE cells acquired in an apparently spontaneous way a number of malignancy-related phenotypes, without, however, reaching the stage of metastasis. L. M. is a recipient of a fellowship from the IWONL, Belgium. This work was supported by the Belgisch Werk Tegen Kanker and the Internationale Stichting Jacques Brel.     

Establishment and characterization of human colonic and gastric cancer cell lines

Two human cancer cell lines, DAIT-6 from a colonic cancer and IT-25 from a gastric cancer, derived from xenografts in nude mice have been established in tissue culture and maintained for over two years. In tissue culture, DAIT-6 cells grew in a monolayered sheet with a population doubling time of about 45.0 hr, and floated or piled up to form small buds above the monolayered surface in relatively confluent cultures. Chromosomal counts ranged from 40 to 108 with a modal number of 59. The cells secreted CEA (1.7 ng/1 x 10(6) cells/24 hr) and CA19-9 (540.5 u/1 x 10(6) cells/24 hr) in spent medium. The IT-25 cells grew in a monolayered sheet with a population doubling time of about 57.8 hr in tissue culture. The IT-25 cells also secreted CEA (0.5 ng/1 x 10(6) cells/24 hr) and CA19-9 (120.0 u/1 x 10(6) cells/24 hr) in spent medium. The xenografts for DAIT-6 and IT-25 in nude mice were histopathologically classified as a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma and a well differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, respectively.     

Establishment of a New Human Glioblastoma Multiforme Cell Line (WJ1) and Its Partial Characterization

(1) A new human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell line, WJ1, was established from the tissue derived from a 29-year-old patient diagnosed with a grade IV GBM. (2) The WJ1 cell line has been subcultured for more than 80 passages in standard culture media without feeder layer or collagen coatings. (3) GBM cells grow in vitro with distinct morphological appearance. Ultrastructural examination revealed large irregular nuclei and pseudo-inclusion bodies in nuclei. The cytoplasm contained numerous immature organelles and a few glia filaments. Growth kinetic studies demonstrated an approximate population doubling time of 60 h and a colony forming efficiency of 4.04%. The karyotype of the cells was hyperdiploid, with a large subpopulation of polyploid cells. Drug sensitivities of DDP, VP-16, tanshinone IIA of this cell line were assayed. They showed a dose- and time-dependent growth inhibition effect on the cells. (4) Orthotopic transplantation of GBM cells into athymic nude mice induced the formation of solid tumor masses about 6 weeks. The cells obtained from mouse tumor masses when cultivated in vitro had the same morphology and ultrastructure as those of the initial cultures. (5) This cell line may provide a useful model in vitro and in vivo in the cellular and molecular studies as well as in testing novel therapies for human glioblastoma multiforme.     

The Growth of the Emt6 Tumour In the Lungs of Balb C Mice Following Intravenous Inoculation of Tumour Cells From Culture

The growth of the EMT6 tumour in the lungs of Balb C mice has been studied following intravenous inoculation of different numbers of tumour cells taken from culture. At various times after injection of cells into mice, cell suspensions have been prepared from pairs of lungs and the number of in vitro colony forming cells assayed by plating into petri dishes. Following intravenous injection of 10⁵ cells, the time required for doubling of the number of clonogenic tumour cells appearing in the cell suspension is around 17 hr until such time that the total tumour cell population per set of lungs reaches 10⁸ cells (at 10–12 days). This doubling time has to be corrected for changes in ability to extract cells from the lungs into the cell suspension at various times and also for possible changes in plating efficiency in vitro. When these correction factors are applied, the most likely value for the doubling time of clonogenic tumour cells in the lungs is in the range 20–24 hr. This is a similar figure to that previously deduced for the EMT6 flank tumour during its microscopic period of growth. After reaching a total size of 10⁸ tumour cells, the time for doubling of the number of clonogenic tumour cells in the lung increases. During the later stages of tumour growth a good correlation is seen between total lung tumour weight and the number of clonogenic cells present. For the final 3–4 days of the initial period of rapid tumour growth, it is possible to carry out a haemocytometer count of tumour cells in the lung suspension and hence surviving fraction experiments may be carried out after various forms of treatment. In this way the response to treatment of microscopic tumour foci may be determined.     

Modulation of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) expression levels alters mouse mammary tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo

Tumor cells exhibit an altered metabolism characterized by elevated aerobic glycolysis and lactate secretion which is supported by an increase in glucose transport and consumption. We hypothesized that reducing or eliminating the expression of the most prominently expressed glucose transporter(s) would decrease the amount of glucose available to breast cancer cells thereby decreasing their metabolic capacity and proliferative potential.Of the 12 GLUT family glucose transporters expressed in mice, GLUT1 was the most abundantly expressed at the RNA level in the mouse mammary tumors from MMTV-c-ErbB2 mice and cell lines examined. Reducing GLUT1 expression in mouse mammary tumor cell lines using shRNA or Cre/Lox technology reduced glucose transport, glucose consumption, lactate secretion and lipid synthesis in vitro without altering the concentration of ATP, as well as reduced growth on plastic and in soft agar. The growth of tumor cells with reduced GLUT1 expression was impaired when transplanted into the mammary fat pad of athymic nude mice in vivo. Overexpression of GLUT1 in a cell line with low levels of endogenous GLUT1 increased glucose transport in vitro and enhanced growth in nude mice in vivo as compared to the control cells with very low levels of GLUT1.These studies demonstrate that GLUT1 is the major glucose transporter in mouse mammary carcinoma models overexpressing ErbB2 or PyVMT and that modulation of the level of GLUT1 has an effect upon the growth of mouse mammary tumor cell lines in vivo.     

In vitro characteristics of metastatic variant subclones of restricted genetic origin

We have studied several metastatic variant cell lines derived from a common clonal origin and their transformed and untransformed parental cell lines. A number of in vitro characteristics were examined for each tumor line and these properties were correlated with the ability of the tumor cells to form pulmonary nodules in an experimental metastasis assay. Direct correlations with metastatic behavior in the lung colony assay were found to exist with the amount of cell-bound Concanavalin A and the procoagulant activities of cell lysates. In vitro parameters that did not correlate with the metastatic phenotype were: population doubling times in culture, saturation density achieved in culture, the number of colony-forming cells shed from confluent cultures, rates of cellular attachment to homotypic or heterotypic cell monolayers, plasminogen-activator production and procoagulant activity produced in serum-free conditioned medium.     

Establishment and characterization of a human gestational choriocarcinoma cell line (HOCC)

Human gestational choriocarcinoma cell line (HOCC) was established from the mouse graft of choriocarcinoma. The HOCC cells were spindle or polygonal in shape and multi-nucleated giant cells, showing neoplastic and pleomorphic features. The cell proliferated stably, and the population doubling time was about 32 hours. The chromosome numbers showed a wide distribution of aneuploidy, the mode was in hypertriploid range and the marker chromosomes were recognized in the several generations. Heterotransplantation was easy, and subcutaneous transplantation of 1 X 10(7) cells in nude mouse formed a tumor composed of choriocarcinoma. It is most noteworthy characteristic of the cell line that it produced human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in an in vitro culture system and in vivo in nude mice.     

Antimetastatic activity of pinosylvin, a natural stilbenoid, is associated with the suppression of matrix metalloproteinases

Metastasis is a major cause of death in cancer patients. Our previous studies showed that pinosylvin, a naturally occurring trans-stilbenoid mainly found in Pinus species, exhibited a potential cancer chemopreventive activity and also inhibited the growth of various human cancer cell lines via the regulation of cell cycle progression. In this study, we further evaluated the potential antimetastatic activity of pinosylvin in in vitro and in vivo models. Pinosylvin suppressed the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9 and membrane type 1-MMP in cultured human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells. We also found that pinosylvin inhibited the migration of HT1080 cells in colony dispersion and wound healing assay systems. In in vivo spontaneous pulmonary metastasis model employing intravenously injected CT26 mouse colon cancer cells in Balb/c mice, pinosylvin (10 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneal administration) significantly inhibited the formation of tumor nodules and tumor weight in lung tissues. The analysis of tumor in lung tissues indicated that the antimetastatic effect of pinosylvin coincided with the down-regulation of MMP-9 and cyclooxygenase-2 expression, and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and Akt. These data suggest that pinosylvin might be an effective inhibitor of tumor cell metastasis via modulation of MMPs.     

Identification of LZAP as a new candidate tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

LZAP was isolated as a binding protein of the Cdk5 activator p35. LZAP has been highly conserved during evolution and has been shown to function as a tumor suppressor in various cancers. This study aimed to investigate LZAP expression and its prognostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Meanwhile, the function of LZAP in hepatocarcinogenesis was further investigated in cell culture models and mouse models.

Methods

Real-time quantitative PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to explore LZAP expression in HCC cell lines and primary HCC clinical specimens. The functions of LZAP in the proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, migration, invasion and apoptosis of HCC cell lines were also analyzed by infecting cells with an adenovirus containing full-length LZAP. The effect of LZAP on tumorigenicity in nude mice was also investigated.

Results

LZAP expression was significantly decreased in the tumor tissues and HCC cell lines. Clinicopathological analysis showed that LZAP expression was significantly correlated with tumor size, histopathological classification and serum α-fetoprotein (AFP). The Kaplan–Meier survival curves revealed that decreasing LZAP expression was associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. LZAP expression was an independent prognostic marker of overall HCC patient survival in a multivariate analysis. The re-introduction of LZAP expression in the HepG2 and sk-Hep1 HCC cell lines significantly inhibited proliferation and colony formation in the HCC cells and induced G1 phase arrest and apoptosis of the HCC cells in vitro. Restoring LZAP expression in the HCC cell lines also inhibited migration and invasion. In addition, experiments with a mouse model revealed that LZAP overexpression could suppress HCC tumorigenicity in vivo.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that LZAP may play an important role in HCC progression and could be a potential molecular therapy target for HCC.     

Murine mammary tumour cells in vitro. II. Recruitment of quiescent cells

The development of a pure quiescent (Q) tumour cell population can be induced in three mouse mammary tumour lines (66, 67 and 68H) by nutrient deprivation. When these Q cells were removed from nutrient-deprived cultures and replated in fresh medium at a lower cell concentration within 72 hr of entering quiescence virtually all of the Q cells could re-enter the proliferating (P) state. This recruitment was characterized by an increase in cell volume, an increase in total cellular RNA, and a resumption of cell division. The length of the Q to P transition varied among the three cell lines and the depth of the quiescent state depended on the amount of time the cells had been quiescent. Once re-entry into the P compartment was completed, cell-cycle times, as estimated by the culture doubling time, were the same as the cells that had not entered the Q state, however, after 72 hr in quiescence, not all of the 66 cells could reattach after trypsinization and of those that could reattach approximately equal to 50% were incapable of either increasing their RNA levels to that of proliferating G1 cells or entering S. Clonogenicity of the nutrient-deprived Q cells in these lines decreases exponentially from time the cells enter quiescence with approximate half-times of 32, 34, and 96 hr for the 66, 68H and 67 cells, respectively. Since clonogenicity was already declining at a time when all the Q cells could re-enter the P compartment, the ability of a Q cell to form a colony is not determined solely by its capacity to re-enter the proliferating compartment.     

Augmentation of host resistance to Candida albicans infection in ascites tumor-bearing mice.

We found that the number of peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) dramatically increased in both sarcoma 180 (S-180) and MM-46 mammary carcinoma (MM-46) ascites tumor-bearing mice, and mice required a remarkable resistance to Candida albicans infection via intravenous route. When the resistance was determined by number of cells of C. albicans in the kidney, a significant decrease in the number of fungal cells was observed in the kidneys of infected ascites tumor-bearing mice. An increase of active oxygen levels of PMN from ascites tumor-bearing mice was observed, suggesting that this factor is important in developing of resistance in ascites tumor-bearing mice. Additionally, a culture supernatant of tumor cells co-cultivated with bone-marrow cells in vitro increased the number of granulocytes and macrophages differentiated from the bone-marrow cells.     

不同接种量荧光素酶标记小鼠乳腺癌细胞4T1在小鼠体内生长及肺转移的比较

目的 采用活体成像技术比较四种剂量荧光素酶标记肿瘤细胞在小鼠体内生长及肺转移情况,为光学标记肿瘤模型的药物筛选或机制研究提供参考资料.方法 以荧光素酶作为报告基因导人小鼠乳腺癌细胞4T1中,经G418筛选获得稳定表达荧光素酶的细胞克隆并扩大培养.标记细胞稀释成1×107细胞/mL,2×107细胞/mL,5×107细胞/mL和1×108细胞/mL四种剂量,取0.1 mL接种子BALB/c小鼠右侧第二对乳腺脂肪垫内,制作小鼠原位乳腺癌模型,比较肿瘤细胞在小鼠体内生长及肺转移情况.结果获得稳定表达荧光素酶基因的细胞克隆,在致瘤性方面和亲代细胞无明显差别,四种剂量细胞接种BALB/c小鼠后,均有肿瘤生长,接种第28天时,四种剂量接种的原位移植瘤大小没有明显差别,但接种两个高剂量肿瘤细胞的小鼠组各有2只小鼠死亡;接种后31 d,发现四种剂量接种的原位移植瘤均发生不同程度的转移,随着观察天数的增加,转移程度逐渐严重,接种后42 d,小鼠陆续发生死亡.结论 根据转移和死亡情况,确定接种1×106个细胞/只不仅肺转移明显,而且存活时间一般超过45 d,比高剂量接种存活时间长,为最佳肺转移剂量.     

KLN205—A murine lung carcinoma cell line

Summary KLN205 cells, a cloned cell line established from the Nettesheim lung carcinoma, grow in various synthetic media such as MEM, Fisher's or Roswell Park Memorial Institute Medium (RPMI) with the addition of 5 to 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS), calf serum (CS) or horse serum (HS). They grow optimally in minimum Eagle's medium plus nonessential amino acids (NEAA) plus 5 to 10% FBS or HS. The cells are transplantable to DBA/2, BDF₁, AKD₂F₁, and BALB/c, but not to C3H/He or ICR mice. The growth curves, plating efficiency, ultrastructural characteristics, modal number of chromosomes and transplantability to mice of various strains are almost the same for early and late passages of cells passaged in vitro. These parameters for 16th and 36th passages were: doubling time, 31 and 33 hr; plating efficiency, 12.4±1.2 and 14.6±2.6%; modal number of chromosomes, 73 and 76; lung colony formation in DBA/2, 50 and 45.9/mouse; and subcutaneous tumor diameter 24.5 and 27.4 mm, respectively. Only the numbers of lung colonies formed in BDF₁ mice were different: 24.4/mouse with 16th passage cells, and 10.2/mouse with 36th passage cells. The results suggest that KLN205 is a relatively stable cultured cell line through 36 passages. As was expected, immunosuppression by higher concentrations of triaminolone acetonide (TA) enhanced lung colony formation in BDF₁ mice. On the other hand, a low concentration of TA inhibited lung colony formation in DBA/2 mice, which was unexpected. These results suggest that KLN205 offers a model for investigations on metastases to lungs as well as chemotherapy for lung carcinoma. This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.     

Establishment and characterization of two embryonic cell lines of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombyx mori</Emphasis>

Two cell lines, i.e., BmE-SWU1 and BmE-SWU2, were established from silkworm embryonic tissues of the reversion phase through primary culture in Grace’s medium supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum. The BmE-SWU1 cell line mainly included diploid spindle cells and round cells, which were large and had severe heteroploidy karyotypes. The population doubling time of the 30th passage of the cell line was 58.7 hr. BmE-SWU2 cells were oblong or round, and small. The population doubling time for the 30th passage of the cell line was 46.6 hr. Of BmE-SWU2 cells 89.9% were diploid (2n = 56). Both strains were attached to epithelial-like cell lines and were susceptible to Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedroviruse (BmNPV). Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fingerprinting of silkworm embryonic cell line was obtained.     

Establishment and characterization of a human ureteral cancer cell line producing carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen

We established a new cell line (FU-UrC-1) derived from a human primary ureteral carcinoma xenografted in a nude mouse. This cell line exhibited epithelial characteristics and formed clusters in monolayer cultures. The cells were subcultured in vitro for more than 20 passages and had a doubling time of 53 hours. The modal number of chromosomes was 66. The cell line, which was xenografted again to nude mice, produced tumors essentially identical to the original tumor. Furthermore, the cultured cells expressed carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) that were secreted in the culture media. This cell line appears to provide a useful system for studying ureteral carcinoma in vivo and in vitro.