title: Establishment and characterization of a novel cell line derived from human thymoma AB tumor.
abstract: Thymomas are low-grade epithelial tumors of the anterior mediastinum. The complexity of the disease and the lack of in vitro and in vivo models hamper the development of better therapeutics. In this study, we report a novel cell line, designated as IU-TAB-1, which was established from a patient with stage II thymoma (World Health Organization-type AB). The IU-TAB-1 cell line was established in vitro and characterized using histological and immunohistochemical staining, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, cytogenetic analyses and functional assays including in vitro and a NOD/SCID xenograft model. A whole-genome gene expression analysis (Illumina) was performed on the IU-TAB-1 cell line and 34 thymomas to determine the clinical relevance of the cell line. The IU-TAB-1 cell line was positive for epithelial markers (pan-cytokeratin and EpCAM/CD326) including thymic epithelial (TE) surface markers (such as CD29, CD9, CD54/ICAM-1, CD58 and CD24) and p63, and negative for B- and T-cell lineage markers. Gene expression profiling demonstrated overlapping and distinct genes between IU-TAB-1 and primary thymomas including the primary tumor (from which the cell line was derived). IU-TAB-1 cells are tumorigenic when implanted in immunodeficient mice with tumors reaching a volume of 1000 mm³ at around 130 days. The established cell line represents a biologically relevant new tool to investigate the molecular pathology of thymic malignancies and to evaluate the efficacy of novel therapeutics both in vitro and in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Walther Hall, 980W Walnut Street, C230, IN 46202, USA. ypolar@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Yesim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gökmen-Polar
authors.forename: Kerry L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: Chirayu P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.forename: Oscar D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: Narjis A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Zaheer
authors.forename: Rohit K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kesler
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Gail H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Vance
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Angelo A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Badve
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Loehrer
authors.forename: George W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Sledge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008875:Middle Aged; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*