Objective: To establish the cell line from specimens of resectable human gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and to verify the characteristics of cell biology in vitro.
Methods: The tissues from biopsies of human GIST were cultured in RPMI 1640 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. After growing to 90% confluence, the cells were detached for subculture and their characteristics, including morphology, growth kinetics, karyotype analysis, immunohistochemical analysis and tumorigenicity in nude mice were determined.
Results: GIST named GIST-H1 was successfully established. The cell line was passaged for more than 60 times 1 year. The characteristics demonstrated: The population doubling time calculated in the log phase of growth was 47.5 h. The cloning efficiency in the soft agar averaged 24.8%. Electronmicroscopically, there were rich ribosomes and mitochondrion in the cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical analysis showed CD117(+), SMA(+), dog-1(+), CD34(-), and S-100(-). Karyotype analysis illustrated aneuploidy with the modal chromosomal number 60-98. The GIST cells transplanted in nude mice had high tumorigenicity.
Conclusion: The immortalized GIST cells are developed in vitro and have specific characteristics of GIST.