A NEW FLOATING CELL LINE DERIVED FROM HUMAN PULMONARY CARCINOMA OF OAT CELL TYPE

A human cell line was newly established from a lymph node with metastasis from oat cell carcinoma of the lung. The cultured cells grew floating free in the culture fluid and have been serially subcultured for 80 generations to date. Multilobulated nuclei and well-developed Golgi apparatus were prominent and secretory granules were occasionally observed. No virus particles were found. Repeated examination by immunofluorescence revealed no evidence of immunoglobulin synthesis and EB virus production. Chromosomal analysis of cultured cells in the 8th generation revealed the modal chromosome number of 47 and the karyotypic anomaly of B5q+, t(Alq+; Cq-) in all of the mitotic cells. These characteristics of this cell line obviously differ from those of the lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from the human lymphoid tissues, strongly supporting the possibility of cancer cell origin. This cell line was therefore designated as OAT line after oat cell carcinoma.