title: Cytogenetic analysis of melanoma cell lines: subclone selection in long-term melanoma cell cultures.
abstract: We employed G-banding cytogenetic analysis to follow the clonal constitution of short-term cultures of metastatic malignant melanoma compared to their long-term cultures. Eight metastatic melanoma cell lines were analyzed. No long-term culture was found to be identical to its line of origin. In all cultures there was a selection of one subclone and emergence of its own subclones. In the majority of cultured tumors (5/8), this process was associated with a decrease in the number of subclones composing the line. We suggest that subclone selection in long-term tumor cultures can be associated with a change in phenotype. Therefore, caution is required when employing long-term cultures for research and therapy.
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Kiryat Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel. lotem@isdn.net.il
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lotem
authors.forename: Orly
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yehuda-Gafni
authors.forename: Eliza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Butnaryu
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Drize
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peretz
authors.forename: Dvorah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abeliovich
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured