Establishment of epithelial cell line MDA-MB-157 from metastatic pleural effusion of human breast carcinoma.

Abstract

An epithelial cell line, MDA-MB-157, has been established from the pleural fluid of a metastatic human breast carcinoma. The cell line is characterized by rapid growth of cells in dense plaques and in suspension. The cells were originally isolated in a complex medium containing Leibovitz's L-15, Waymouth's MB752/1 and Ham's F-10 media with 16% fetal calf serum, glutathione, cortisol, insulin, and antibiotics. Recently cultures have been growing equally well on some less complex media such as RPMI-1640 with 20% fetal calf serum or Ham's F-10 with 20% fetal calf serum. The presence of typical epithelial cell organization, and structures such as desmosomes, have been observed by electron microscopy. Viruses and mycoplasmas were not detected. The cells exhibit a hypotriploid karyotype with mode of 64 to 66 chromosomes.