CHARACTERIZATION OF CELL-LINES ESTABLISHED FROM HUMAN HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

We characterized 8 human hepatocellular-carcinoma cell lines establish ed from the primary tumors of Korean patients. All lines showed substr ate adherence and one line from anaplastic tumor also grew as floating aggregates. Most cultured cells maintained many morphological charact eristics of the original tumors from which they were derived. Doubling times varied from 34 to 72 hr. All lines showed relatively high viabi lity and were not contaminated with Mycoplasma or bacteria. All lines showed aneuploidy and were proven to be unique by DNA fingerprinting a nalysis. Hepatitis-B-virus (HBV) DNA was integrated in the genomes of all lines. Two of the cell lines (SNU-354, SNU-368) showed expression of HBV and HBVx (HBx) transcripts. SNU-354 strongly expressed albumin, and SNU-368 expressed transferrin and insulin-like growth factor II. No lines produced alpha-fetoprotein at the RNA and protein level. Thes e cell lines represent useful tools for in vitro studies related to he patocellular carcinoma. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.