Cell properties after repeated transplantation of spontaneously and of SV40 virus transformed mouse cell lines. I. Growth in culture

Abstract

“Spontaneously” or SV40 virus transformed AL/N mouse cell lines were passed repeatedly through syngeneic mice. Cell lines were re‐established in culture from minced pieces of tumors in the presence of concentrated fetal calf serum or from tumor cells dispersed by trypsin. The aim of this study was to compare the two cell lines in regard to the selection processes which operate during such procedures by characterization of the resulting cell lines. Measurements of growth in tissue culture on substratum showed no significant difference between any of the transformed cell lines. The SV40 transformed cells and its derivative cells had a low anchorage requirement for growth. The greatest anchorage requirement for growth was in the normal untransformed cells and in the derivative cells from the “spontaneously” transformed cells which were established from minced tumors. The spontaneously transformed cells and all derivative cells had high tumorigenicity in vivo (TD₅₀ < 10²). The SV40 transformed cells had no observable tumorigenicity (TD₅₀ > 10⁸), except when injected into irradiated mice (TD₅₀ = 10⁷). The derivative cell lines obtained from such a tumor had increased tumorigenicity (TD₅₀ = 1–5 × 10⁵ in the immunocompetent mice, 5 × 10⁴ in the irradiated mice). The SV40 transformed derivative cells maintained their SV40 specific T antigen and their susceptibility to lysis by specific antiserum.