Growth and characterization of a cell line from a human primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell carcinoma) in culture and as xenograft
K. Krasagakis et al., Growth and characterization of a cell line from a human primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell carcinoma) in culture and as xenograft, J CELL PHYS, 187(3), 2001, pp. 386-391
The primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin or Merkel cell carcinoma (
MCC) is a skin tumor with aggressive biological behaviour. Experimental mod
els for investigating the biological properties of the tumor are prerequisi
te for developing new therapeutic approaches. In this study, we report the
establishment and characterisation of a cell line derived from the lymph-no
de metastasis of a patient with highly aggressive MCC. Merkel carcinoma cel
ls (MCC-1) grew as floating aggregates in suspension cultures for more than
two years and over 70 subcultures. The proliferation rate in suspension cu
ltures was rather moderate with a population doubling time of 69 h. The imm
unocytochemical pattern of the cultured MCC-1 was similar to that of the or
iginal tumor with expression of cytokeratin 18, neuron-specific enolase, ne
urofilaments, and synaptophysin. In addition, reverse transcriptase polymer
ase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed presence of chromogranin A mRNA in the
MCC-1 cell line. Furthermore, electron microscopy yielded the rare finding
of neuroendocrine granules in the cytoplasm of the cultured cells. The cel
l line MCC-1 was able to form colonies in soft agar. Nude mice developed so
lid tumors with similar histology to the original tumor after subcutaneous
and intravenous injections of cultured MCC-1, and malignant ascites was see
n after intraperitoneal injection. Also, two MCC-1 sublines were establishe
d by reculturing cells from the xenografts grown in vivo and immunocytochem
istry confirmed their neuroendocrine origin. The MCC-1 line may thus serve
as a model for studying the biology and the metastatic potential of Merkel
cell carcinoma. I. Cell. Physiol. 187: 386-391, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss,
Inc.