Molecular and cellular characterization of human renal cell carcinoma cell lines

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 1992-01, Vol.52 (2), p.348-356
• Main Authors: ANGLARD, P, TRAHAN, E, LIU, S, LATIF, F, MERINO, M. J, LERMAN, M. I, ZBAR, B, LINEHAN, W. M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - pathology; Cell Division; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3; DNA Fingerprinting; Heterozygote; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms - genetics; Kidney Neoplasms - pathology; Kidneys; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Nude; Neoplasm Transplantation; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumors of the urinary system
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445

Recent studies have suggested that a tumor suppressor gene located in the region 3p21-26 of chromosome 3 is essential to the genesis of sporadic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and that other tumor suppressor genes located on other chromosomes may be involved with progression of this malignancy. The cellular heterogeneity of solid tumors complicates their analysis. In order to analyze a homogeneous population of tumor cells and identify genetic changes associated with histology in renal cortical tumors, we have established and characterized 35 RCC lines derived from tumor tissue from 31 patients with renal cell carcinomas. The overall success rate in establishing these cell lines from fresh or frozen specimens was 75% (18 of 24) and 35% (17 of 48), respectively. These lines differed in their morphology, growth rates, and tumorigenicity in athymic nude mice. Molecular characterization utilizing DNA fingerprinting and restriction fragment length polymorphism deletion analysis was performed to detect somatic mutations and loss of heterozygosity on the short arm of chromosome 3. Analysis revealed loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 3p in 25 cell lines derived from 28 informative nonpapillary forms of RCC (89%). Deletion-mapping analysis showed the retention of the distal locus, D3S18, in one of the RCC cell lines, which further localized the position of the putative tumor suppressor gene to the region proximal to D3S18. Although deletions on chromosome 3 have been recently suggested to be specific to the clear cell-type phenotype, our results revealed no correlation between loss of heterozygosity and clear or granular cell types.