title: Establishment of human colon cancer cell lines from fresh tumors versus xenografts: comparison of success rate and cell line features.
abstract: Obtaining representative human colon cancer cell lines from fresh tumors is technically difficult. Using 32 tumor fragments from patients with colon cancer, the present study shows that prior xenograft leads to more efficient cell line establishment compared with direct establishment from fresh tumors (P < 0.05). From 26 tumor specimens, we successfully established 20 tumor xenografts in nude mice (77%); among 19 of these xenografts, 9 (47%) led to cell lines, including four from liver metastases. Only 3 of 31 tumor specimens (9.7%) grew immediately in vitro, and all were derived from primary tumors. To compare major phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of human colon cancer cell lines derived from the same tumor fragment using two protocols, the two pairs of cell lines obtained from 2 of 32 tumor fragments were extensively studied. They displayed similar morphology and were able to form compact spheroids. Chemosensitivity to 5-fluorouracil, CPT11, and L-OHP differed between cell lines obtained from patient tumors and those derived from xenografts. Matched cell lines shared a common core of karyotype alterations and distinctive additional chromosomal aberrations. Expression levels of genes selected for their role in oncogenesis evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR were found to be statistically correlated whatever the in vitro culture model used. In conclusion, xenotransplantation in mice of tumor fragments before establishment of cell lines enables generation of more novel human cancer cell lines for investigation of colon cancer cell biology, opening up the opportunity of reproducing the diversity of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Physiopathologie Hépatique, UMR 8149 CNRS, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques de Paris, Université René Descartes-Paris 5, 4 Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75006 Paris, France. virginie.dangles@univ-paris5.fr
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dangles-Marie
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pocard
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richon
authors.forename: Louis-Bastien
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Weiswald
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Assayag
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saulnier
authors.forename: Jean-Gabriel
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Judde
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Janneau
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Auger
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Validire
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dutrillaux
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Praz
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bellet
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Poupon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000502:physiology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous