CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEWLY ESTABLISHED HUMAN ACINIC CELL ADENOCARCINOMA CELL-LINE (HACC) ORIGINATING FROM THE SALIVARY-GLAND - MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES AND ROLE OF VARIOUS GROWTH-FACTORS ON THE GROWTH OF THE HACC CELL-LINE

Human acinic cell adenocarcinoma cell (HACC) line was established from the pleural effusion that contains metastatic tumor cells of acinic c ell adenocarcinoma of papillary and microcystic type originating from the parotid gland, The HACC cells grew in an adherent monolayer with a doubling time of 66 h, Implanted tumor of SCID mice revealed similar histological findings to that of the primary tumor. The HACC cells pro duced mucin and expressed epithelial markers as well as alpha(1)-antit rypsin and lysozyme, whereas salivary peptide P-C was expressed in cul tured HACC cells but not in the primary and implanted HACC cell tumors . S-100 protein was also expressed in both the primary tumor and HACC cell line, Neither amplification of common oncogenes nor expression of p53 was observed. The receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF) was expressed, indicating EGF and transforming growth factor-alpha. (TGF-a lpha) enhanced the growth of the HACC line, Unexpectedly, tumor necros is factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) also enhanced the growth of the HACC line significantly, However, there was no evidence of autocrine growth usin g these growth factors. In contrast, TGF-beta 1 inhibited the growth o f the HACC cell line through apoptosis. The HACC cell line has feature s similar to both acinar and intercalated ductal cells of the salivary gland, Epidermal growth factor, TGF-alpha and TNF-alpha are potential growth factors for the HACC cell line, The HACC cell line may be a go od model for studying the biological behavior of salivary gland neopla sms.