title: Growth characteristics of human glioma-derived and fetal neural cells in culture.
abstract: Growth characteristics of human fetal neural cells (CH) and human glioblastoma multiforme-derived cells (12-18) in culture were compared. Cells were grown to confluent densities of 38,000 to 42,500 cells/cm2 for CH and 85,800 to 87,100 for 12-18. Population doubling times were 40.0 +/- 5.1 hr and 66.5 +/- 9.8 hr for CH and 12-18 cells, respectively. The mean DNA content per cell of the glioma-derived cells was twice that of the fetal brain cells at sparse, log, and confluent cell densities. High concentrations (40%) of serum in growth medium increased DNA contents in confluent CH, but not 12-18, cells. The amount of protein per cell also was consistently higher in glioma cells than CH cells, but, as cell densities increased, protein contents decreased for both: 1200 to 700 pg/cell in glioma cells, and 840 to 560 pg/cell in CH cells. In each cell line, initial rates of [3H]ThdR incorporation into TCA precipitable material decreased as cell density increased, but confluent glioma-derived cells incorporated 10 times more [3H]ThdR than confluent fetal cells. Almost all CH cells had a normal diploid chromosome number of 46. A histogram showing the relative frequencies of chromosome numbers of glioma-derived cells had peaks of 52, 79, and 105 chromosomes per metaphase, indicating a haploid number of 26 for most cells. Lengths of cell cycle phases, determined using autoradiographic techniques, indicate that glioma-derived cells had a longer generation time and S period than fetal neural cells. These data demonstrate several biological differences between glioblastoma-derived cells and non-neoplastic fetal neural cells, indicating that this system is of potential value for comparative studies on growth control and contact inhibition.
mesh_terms: D002452:Cell Count; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005333:Fetus; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D004247:DNA; D013936:Thymidine