title: Establishment and characterization of spontaneous mesothelioma cell lines derived from F344 rats.
abstract: Three mesothelioma cell lines (MeET-4, MeET-5, and MeET-6) established from ascitic fluid of F344 rats with spontaneous abdominal mesothelioma have been maintained through at least 60 passages on the DMEM with 10% FBS. Two of original tumours consisted of epithelioid cells growing in a papillary pattern, while one (original tumour of MeET-5) had sarcomatous areas composed of spindle-shaped tumour cells. The cell line originating from MeET-5 showed a constantly beiphasic growth pattern during the repetitive subcloning, while the other two lines retained a monophasic growth pattern. Although the growth pattern was different, the tumour cells in all three lines were positive for vimentin and keratin and ultrastructurally showed an abundant distribution of glycogen granules in the cytoplasm and numerous long microvilli on all surface. The modal chromosome number of cell lines varied from 41 to 71, and abnormal chromosomes were frequently seen. All cell lines established formed colonies on semi-solid medium and could be successfully transplanted, growing tumour masses in syngeneic rats and thus indicating their malignant nature. Cell lines grew even on a medium with a low concentration of FBS. The evidence suggests that they may produce growth factors that enable them to survive unfavourable medium conditions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology, Toxicology Division, Institute of Environment Toxicology, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maita
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002875:Chromosomes; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000473:pathology