Establishment and Characterization of a New Human Gallbladder Carcinoma Cell Line

Prognosis for patients with gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is poor and the standard treatment for GBC has not yet been established. We established the human GBC cell line TYGBK-1, from a patient with papillary, tubular adenocarcinoma. The doubling time was 48 hours. This cell line has a missense mutation of p53 and no mutation of the K-RAS gene. This cell line was transplantable to nude mice. We characterized the sensitivity of TYGBK-1 to gemcitabine. We also examined the association of two gemcitabine-related genes (deoxycytidine kinase, dCK, and Hu antigen R, HuR). Among four GBC cell lines (TYGBK-1, NOZ, G-415, TGBC2TKB), TYGBK-1 and NOZ exhibited sensitivity to gemcitabine. Furthermore, these cells expressed both dCK and HuR mRNA, rather than gemcitabine-resistant cells. The newly established GBC cell line TYGBK-1, may represent an effective tool for development of chemotherapeutic treatment for GBC.