Search

The karyotype of an established human hepatoma cell line HA22T/VGH was characterized by G-banding. A majority of the 200 cells counted had around 70 chromosomes at passage 24, and 60 at passage 338. Of the 50 cells karyotyped from each of passage 24 and passages 338-339, chromosomes #13 and #18 were absent. The presence of the Y chromosome was reduced dramatically from a mean value of 1.12/cell at passage 24 to 0.12/cell at passages 338-339. In general, most of the chromosomes--particularly chromosomes #5, #7, #9, #15, and #21--tended to be less represented in the course of propagation in vitro. The presence of multiple copies of a normal chromosome in a single cell was quite common for chromosomes #5 and #7 at both early and late passages. Numerous structural rearrangements of the chromosomes were observed.

The cell line CE48T/VGH was established from an epidermoid carcinoma of the middle third of the esophagus of a 58-year-old male patient. Cytogenetic analysis at passages 90-99 showed that the line was hypotetraploid, with a mean chromosome number of 73. None of the 50 karyotyped cells had a normal chromosome #1 or Y. Cells with multiple copies of some of the autosomes were observed frequently. Structural rearrangements were numerous, especially of chromosomes #1, #9, #14, X, and Y.