Differential stability of a human mini-chromosome in mouse cell lines.
A 4 Mb human mini-chromosome, DeltaDelta2, was transferred from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells into a mouse L cell line. The mini-chromosome could be transferred intact into the L cells, with 112/119 clones maintaining a mini-chromosome of the same size as the original. Ten clones were grown for 30 days in continuous culture. The mini-chromosomes were maintained stably with or without selection at a copy number of 1-2 per cell and none experienced any size alterations, as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Thus DeltaDelta2 is structurally and mitotically stable in L cells. This contrasts with results in embryonic stem cells, in which DeltaDelta2 is highly unstable. These findings indicate that established somatic cell lines, such as L cells and CHO cells, have less stringent controls over centromeric function than do normal embryonic cells.
Loupart
M L
ML
Centre for Genome Research, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ, UK. MARIEL@srvO.bio.ed.ac.uk
Shen
M H
MH
Smith
A
A
D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002503:Centromere / Q000502:physiology; D002877:Chromosomes, Human / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D007739:L Cells; D051379:Mice; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity