ESTABLISHMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 2 DIVERGENT CELL-LINES DERIVED FROM A HUMAN CHROMOPHOBE RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

The chromophobe renal cell carcinoma is a distinct type of renal cance r presumably derived from the intercalated cell of the collecting duct system and exhibiting a better prognosis than other types of renal ce ll carcinoma Chromophobe carcinomas can be separated from other types of renal cell carcinoma by their characteristic cytomorphology, ultras tructural appearance, cytoskeletal architecture, and cytogenetic aberr ations As no permanent cea line of the chromophobe tumor type has prev iously been described we are the first to report on the successful est ablishment and characterization of two divergent permanent cell lines, ie, chrompho-A and chrompho-B, derived from the same chromophobe rena l cell carcinoma, With immunocytochemistry, two-dimensional gel electr ophoresis, and Western blot, chrompho-A and chrompho-B exclusively exh ibited cytokeratins (Nos. 7, 8, 18, and 19) but not vimentin. Ultrastr uctural studies revealed numerous cytoplasmic microvesicles as well as coated vesicles that are known to be characteristic features of the i ntercalated cell. Chrompho-B cells exhibited a shorter mean population doubling time (t(D) = 43 hours) than chrompho-A cells (t(D) = 51 hour s). Both cell lines failed to produce tumors in nude mice with the sub renal capsule assay, Cytogenetic analyses revealed hyperdiploid chromo some numbers in both cell lines with telomeric associations as well as numeric aberrations known from chromophobe renal cell carcinomas in v ivo.