Characterization of Murine Cell Lines from Diethylstilbestrol-Induced Uterine Endometrial Adenocarcinomas

• Published in: In vitro cellular & developmental biology 1992-05, Vol.28A (5), p.327-336
• Main Authors: Hébert, Charles D., Endo, Sumiyo, Korach, Kenneth S., Boyd, Jeff, Barrett, J. Carl, McLachlan, John A., Newbold, Retha R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - chemically induced; Adenocarcinoma - genetics; Adenocarcinoma - pathology; Animal cells; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Blotting, Southern; Cell growth; Cell lines; Cell Nucleolus - pathology; Cell Nucleus - pathology; Chromatin - pathology; Cultured cells; Cytoplasm - pathology; Diethylstilbestrol; DNA, Neoplasm - analysis; Epithelial cells; Establishment of new cell lines, improvement of cultural methods, mass cultures; Eukaryotic cell cultures; Feeder cells; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, myc; Genes, ras; Genes, Tumor Suppressor; Genetic mutation; Giant cells; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Mice; Mice, Nude; Microscopy, Electron; Mutation; Neoplasm Transplantation; Receptors, Estrogen - metabolism; Transformed cell line; Tumor cell line; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumors; Uterine Neoplasms - chemically induced; Uterine Neoplasms - genetics; Uterine Neoplasms - pathology
• ISSN: 0883-8364; 1071-2690; 2327-431X; 1543-706X
• DOI: 10.1007/bf02877056

Neonatal treatment with estrogens is associated with development of uterine adenocarcinomas in CD-1 mice. Treatment with the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) on Days 1 to 5 after birth results in 90% incidence of these hormone-dependent lesions in 18-mo.-old mice. Three cell lines were established from these DES-associated tumors. Each of these cell lines exhibited morphologic and ultrastructural characteristics of transformed epithelial cells, including an increased nuclear:cytoplasmic ratio, enlarged and irregular nuclei with multiple nucleoli and areas of chromatin condensation, positive staining for cytokeratin, desmosomes, and microvilli. After subcutaneous injection into nude mice, all three cell lines formed solid tumors within 4 wk. Although the primary uterine tumors and tumor transplants in nude mice had been shown to be estrogen-dependent and estrogen-receptor positive, neither the monolayer growth nor the tumorigenicity of any of the three cell lines in this study was enhanced by or dependent on estrogen. Estrogen receptor levels were low in early and intermediate passage cells. Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization analysis of PCR-amplified cell line DNA revealed no point mutations in the 12th, 13th, or 61st codons of the K-ras or H-ras protooncogenes. Southern analysis revealed no changes in genomic organization of the putative tumor suppressor gene DCC, but demonstrated a three- to four-fold amplification of the c-myc gene in one cell line. Expression of c-myc RNA was concomitantly increased in the same cell line. These three transformed cell lines represent the end point in the process of hormone-associated tumorigenesis and as such should prove useful in investigating the molecular changes and the mechanisms involved in hormonal carcinogenesis.