Two established in vitro cell lines from human mesenchymal tumours

Pontén J, Saksela E.
International Journal of Cancer. 1967 September 15;2(5):434-47.
Abstract
The development and cultivation of two cell lines from human mesenchymal tumours is described. Lines 2T and 4T differed from normal human fibroblastic cell strains by showing cytological atypia (high nucleocytoplasmic ratio, hyperchromasia and pleo-morphism), an altered “epithelial-like” pavement growth pattern, a deficient inhibition of cell division in crowded cultures and a potential for “indefinite” multiplication in vitro. Both lines were chromosomally abnormal in all samples and differed karyo-typically from any known continuous cell line as well as from each other. Line 2T has retained, at least for 3 months (passage 111–126), a fairly narrow chromosomal mode of 34–38 with two specific marker chromosomes. A high frequency of chromosome breakage was observed in line 2T and extensive chromosome fragmentation, “chromosome pulverization”, occurred. No viruses could, however, be detected in the cultures despite numerous attempts. A control cell strain (2S) was developed from uninvolved skin of one of the tumour patients. Its behaviour followed the general pattern of human diploid cell strains in culture. To our knowledge, the described cell lines are the first derived from human mesenchymal tumours where the availability of a control fibroblast strain will provide us with opportunities to compare autologous normal and neoplastic human mesenchymal cells under in vitro conditions.