Abstract
Assuming that a human mammary tumor virus might be produced as in the mouse model, by the neoplastic epithelial cells, the finding of a virus particle budding from human breast tumor cells in culture would add strong support to the virus-inducing hypothesis. Monolayer cultures of human breast-tumor fragments, however, gave rise to an abundant fibroblastic outgrowth. Harvesting cells “spilling” out of tumor slices helped to select epithelial cell aggregates which grew relatively well in media supplemented with serum and amniotic fluid. When it was found that both serum and amniotic fluid contained virus-like particles, attempts were made to replace them by bactopeptones and lactalbumin hydrolysates which are autoclavable. Addition of Plasdone-C, an inert vinyl polymer, conferred to the solution the physical properties of serum. The serum-free media have supported the growth of human breast tumor epithelium for several months. Virus-like particles were found in these culture supernatants, but no virus particle budding from the cell membrane was observed.
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