title: Morphological and flow-cytometric characterization of a trichilemmoid carcinoma cell line in vitro.
abstract: A cell line derived from a trichilemmoid carcinoma of a 85-year-old male was established in vitro and maintained in culture for 14 months. From the explant culture to the second passage, the tumour cells propagated slowly. After 6 months (third passage) faster growth behaviour was noticed. In culture the neoplastic cells continued synthesizing abundant glycogen. The DNA histogram of original neoplastic cells revealed a seemingly normal unimodal DNA distribution. The tumour DNA remained apparently stable during the subsequent months in culture. However, after 6 months in culture, flow cytometry disclosed a spontaneous shift in nuclear DNA content. This study enabled us to establish in vitro the malignant properties of the tumour and strongly suggested that it was derived from trichilemmal cells.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm