Characterization of a cell line from human transitional cell cancer of the urinary tract.

Abstract

A cell line designated 253J was established from a biopsy specimen of retroperitoneal metastasis in a man with multiple transitional cell cancers of the urinary tract. The cells in early and late passages were small and epithelial and had a doubling time of 48 hours. The growth of these cells in culture was characterized by the absence of contact inhibition as evidenced by multilayering. There were virus-like particles in both the original surgical specimen and in cells in culture. The particles were in cytoplasmic vesicles, free in the cytoplasm, or outside both normal and degenerating cells. These particles, varying in size from 30 to 130 nm, had an electron-dense nucleoid and were bounded by a unit membrane. Karyotypic analysis showed the presence of a hyperdiploid stemline with persistent marker chromosomes and chromosomes with multiple rearrangements resulting in unusual G and C banding patterns. The malignant nature of the line was verified by 1) the production of transplantable tumors in immune-depressed hamsters after inoculation with 253J cell suspension and 2) the growth of 253J cells in agar. These cells, in culture over 24 months, have been subcultured over 60 times and continue to retain their epithelial morphology and malignancy.