Guidelines for the use of cell lines in biomedical research.

Cell-line misidentification and contamination with microorganisms, such as mycoplasma, together with instability, both genetic and phenotypic, are among the problems that continue to affect cell culture. Many of these problems are avoidable with the necessary foresight, and these Guidelines have been prepared to provide those new to the field and others engaged in teaching and instruction with the information necessary to increase their awareness of the problems and to enable them to deal with them effectively. The Guidelines cover areas such as development, acquisition, authentication, cryopreservation, transfer of cell lines between laboratories, microbial contamination, characterisation, instability and misidentification. Advice is also given on complying with current legal and ethical requirements when deriving cell lines from human and animal tissues, the selection and maintenance of equipment and how to deal with problems that may arise.

Activity of growth factors in the IL-6 group in the differentiation of human lung adenocarcinoma.

The role of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) group of cytokines in differentiation of two lung adenocarcinoma cell lines has been examined using induction of alkaline phosphatase and expression of surfactant protein A. Oncostatin M was the most active and potent for alkaline phosphatase in A549 cells, with IL-6 having similar activity but less potency. Neither cytokine induced alkaline phosphatase in NCI-H441 cells, although induction was obtained with lung fibroblast-conditioned medium. Surfactant protein A was induced in NCI-H441 cells by conditioned medium and dexamethasone and, to a much lesser extent, by oncostatin M or IL-6. Induction of alkaline phosphatase and surfactant protein A were both dexamethasone-dependent, though some induction of surfactant protein A was obtained with interferon-alpha in the absence of dexamethasone. The activity present in lung fibroblast-conditioned medium suggests paracrine control, but this appears not to be due to oncostatin M or IL-6 as disabling antibodies to either cytokine were not inhibitory, and, although alkaline phosphatase was induced in A549 by both cytokines, it was only induced by conditioned medium in NCI-H441 cells. Furthermore, surfactant protein A was induced in H441 by conditioned medium to a much greater extent than by oncostatin M or IL-6. These data demonstrate that cytokines of the IL-6 group have potential as differentiation inducers in lung adenocarcinoma cells and that there is an equivalent paracrine factor(s) in lung fibroblast conditioned medium. As the production of this factor by fibroblasts is not enhanced by glucocorticoid, although the response of the target cell is, it would appear to be distinct from the fibrocyte pneumocyte factor previously described by Post et al 1984.

Increased cytotoxicity of food-borne mycotoxins toward human cell lines in vitro via enhanced cytochrome p450 expression using the MTT bioassay.

Eight food-borne mycotoxins epidemiologically implicated in human disease were tested for their cytotoxic effects on human cells previously immortalised and transfected to introduce human cytochrome p450 (CYP 450) genes. Such cells retain many characteristics of normal cell growth and differentiation while simultaneously having the potential of either increasing or decreasing the metabolic activity (cytotoxicity) of the challenging mycotoxins. The MTT assay provided an indication of cytotoxicity. Of the nine CYP450s introduced CYP1A2 was most effective, rendering the cells 540 times more sensitive than the control cells to aflatoxin B1, 28 times more sensitive to aflatoxin G1 and 8-fold more sensitive to ochratoxin A. CYP3A4 resulted in the cells being 211 times more toxic to aflatoxin B1 and 8-fold more toxic to aflatoxin G1 while CYP 2A6, CYP 3A5 and CYP 2E1 also produced observable effects. No increase in metabolic activity was found using cyclopiazonic acid, deoxynivalenol, fumonisin B1, patulin or T-2 toxin. CD5Os were calculated for the mycotoxins against the non-CYP-introduced control cells. There was almost a five order of magnitude difference between the most toxic, T-2 toxin (CD50 0.0057 microgram/ml) and the least toxic, fumonisin B1 (CD50 476.2 micrograms/ml). In vitro biological assays thus provide an excellent system for quantifying the often low CD50s expressed by mycotoxins in foods.

Activation of paracrine growth factors by heparan sulphate induced by glucocorticoid in A549 lung carcinoma cells.

Alkaline phosphatase, a marker of differentiation in the human alveolar adenocarcinoma cell line A549, is inducible by conditioned medium from lung fibroblasts and by cytokines including oncostatin M and interleukin 6, but only in the presence of a glucocorticoid, dexamethasone. Dexamethasone was shown to induce incorporation of [3H]glucosamine into three fractions of medium and cell trypsinate from subconfluent A549 cells, eluting from DEAE ion-exchange chromatography. The first peak did not correspond to any of the unlabelled glycosaminoglycans and was not characterized further. Induction was seen in two other peaks, corresponding to hyaluronic acid and heparan sulphate. Of these, heparan sulphate, eluting as one well-defined peak (referred to as HS1) and another of lower activity and less well defined (HS2), was selected as the most likely to interact with growth factors and cytokines and was isolated from the eluate, concentrated and desalted, and used in alkaline phosphatase induction experiments in place of dexamethasone. HS1 isolated from the medium (HS1m) of subconfluent A549 cells was shown to replace dexamethasone in induction experiments with fibroblast-conditioned medium, oncostatin M and interleukin 6. HS1 from the cell trypsinate and HS2 from the medium and trypsinate were inactive. As the activity of HS1m could be abolished by heparinase and heparitinase but not by chondroitinase ABC, it was concluded that HS1m was a fraction of heparan sulphate involved in the regulation of paracrine growth factor activity in lung fibroblast-conditioned medium, and in the regulation of other growth factors with potential roles in the paracrine control of cell differentiation.

Tumorigenicity, invasion and metastasis of the small cell lung cancer cell line NCI-H69 and two derivative lines MOG-H69V and MOG-H69VZ.

Two adherent cell lines MOG-H69V and MOG-H69VZ have been isolated from a continuous cell line, NCI-H69, derived from human small cell lung cancer by Carney et al, [1987]. They have been established and characterised morphologically, biochemically, and for growth characteristics in vitro Khan et al (19). In the present study both the parental and the derivative lines have been investigated for invasiveness in vitro and in vivo. The parental line showed an early invasiveness compared with both the derivative cell lines. All cell lines formed tumours in nude mice with 100% take rate. Xenograft histology of all the cell lines revealed pleomorphic tumours, however the derivative lines showed areas of focal, large, spindle cells containing both acidic and neutral mucin, and spaces between the cells were found filled with alcianophilic, amorphous material. The parental line was invasive and metastatic. Tumours of both the derivative lines were non-metastatic under similar conditions. They were also investigated for neuroendocrine-cell marker expression. These data show that while the behaviour of the parental line was compatible with small cell lung cancer, that of the derivative lines was more indicative of non-small cell lung cancer, both in vitro and in vivo. As previous data suggested a common origin of the parental and the derivative lines, probably from a stem cell subpopulation present in the parental line, these lines represent a useful model for the study of phenotypic changes in lung cancer.

Activity of interferon alpha, interleukin 6 and insulin in the regulation of differentiation in A549 alveolar carcinoma cells.

The differentiation of A549, a human tumour cell line from type II pneumocytes, can be induced by a crude fibroblast-derived factor (FDF) isolated from the conditioned medium of glucocorticoid-treated lung fibroblasts. In the present report, we have used alkaline phosphatase as a differentiation marker to investigate the activity of a number of growth factors as potential candidates for this paracrine activity. This showed that insulin, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) could simulate the activity of conditioned medium. Their effects were dexamethasone (DX) dependent, additive and reversible with a half-life of 1 week. Transforming growth factor alpha and beta, IL-1 alpha and epidermal growth factor, were all inhibitory, and inhibition was opposed, partially or completely, by DX. The most potent inducer was IL-6, but as DX was shown to decrease the concentration of IL-6 in lung fibroblast-conditioned medium it seems an unlikely candidate for FDF. Unlike FDF, all of the positive-acting factors were shown to induce plasminogen activator. FDF has also been shown to be active in the absence of DX. This suggests that differentiation-inducing activity may be present in several paracrine factors, but that so far a candidate for FDF has not been identified.

Relationship between intercellular communication and adriamycin resistance in non-small cell lung cancer.

The adriamycin chemosensitivity and extent of gap junctional intercellular communication were assessed in a panel of seven human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. Communication was assessed by autoradiographic detection of transfer of 3H uridine nucleotides between coupled cells. The strength of coupling varied widely between the cell lines and they could be separated into 3 groups: those which exhibited strong coupling, L-DAN and A549; those which exhibited weak coupling, SK-MES-1, Calu-3 and NCI-H125; and an intermediate group, WIL and NCI-H23. Adriamycin chemosensitivity was assessed by both clonogenic and MTT assays. The range of IC50 values as measured by either assay was extremely narrow, with no important differences between the lines. Thus, despite the wide spectrum of intercellular communication observed in these lines, this did not correlate with their adriamycin resistance.

Induction of phenotypic changes in SCLC cell lines in vitro by hexamethylene bisacetamide, sodium butyrate, and cyclic AMP.

BACKGROUND: Hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA), sodium butyrate (NaBt), and cyclic AMP (cAMP) have been shown to induce differentiation, which may regulate tumour growth differently from conventional cytotoxic drugs. It was the intention in the present study to determine whether alterations could be induced in the phenotype of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines with HMBA, NaBt and cAMP, and whether these alterations would correlate with reduced growth in vivo, implying a phenotypic shift from malignancy towards differentiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cell lines were NCI-H69, H187 and H128. The activity of dopa decarboxylase (DDC), the BB isozyme of creatine kinase (CK-BB), the synthesis of bombesin-like peptide (BLI), and the presence of neurone specific enolase (NSE) and chromogranin were used as markers of the small cell phenotype. Clonogenicity in suspension in agar, and growth as xenografts in nude mice, were used as malignancy-associated properties. Cell proliferation in vitro was determined by cell counting and growth curve analysis. RESULTS: HMBA, NaBt and cAMP were found to be reversibly cytostatic in liquid culture and pre-exposure reduced the cloning efficiency in agar by 60%-80%. Growth as xenografts was inhibited (three- to five-fold increase in the tumour doubling time), most significantly by NaBt. Effects of phenotypic markers were more complex. The most significant were a two-fold reduction in DDC with NaBt and HMBA, a 50% increase in CK-BB with cAMP, and a 70%-100% increase in secreted BLI with HMBA and cAMP, in NCI-H69 cells. No significant effects were seen on NSE and chromogranin. There was little sign of an interaction with adriamycin and vincristine, although a slight increase was observed in the ID50 of VP-16 following treatment with cAMP. CONCLUSIONS: NaBt, HMBA and cAMP were cytostatic and inhibited tumour growth, but there was no coordinated response in marker expression that would confirm phenotypic alteration indicative of differentiation. The problem of defining differentiation in SCLC further complicated the analysis. The possibility remains of combining these agents with conventional cytotoxics as there appears to be little antagonistic effect, and other studies have suggested synergism may be possible with correct scheduling.

Paracrine control of differentiation in the alveolar carcinoma, A549, by human foetal lung fibroblasts.

Synthesis of pulmonary surfactant (PS) is necessary for normal functioning of the lungs and its production is indicative of normal differentiated lung. The human alveolar carcinoma, A549, has been found to synthesis and secrete PS in vitro. The purpose of this study was to optimise the culture conditions for PS synthesis by A549 as well as to determine the potential role of foetal lung fibroblasts in the induction of PS by glucocorticoids. A549 cells growing in filter wells produced higher levels of PS in response to steroid, a 5-fold increase on the filter well compared to only a 1.5-fold increase when the cells were cultured on a conventional plastic substrate. A549 cells grown in filter wells responded to coculture with fibroblasts whether in direct contact or separated co-culture. A 20-fold increase in PS over control values was observed in separated steroid-treated co-cultures, suggesting the presence of a diffusible factor. A partially purified factor was isolated from fibroblast conditioned medium which was capable of inducing differentiation and other phenotypic changes in A549, namely induction of PS, reduction of plasminogen activator activity and reduction in the in vivo growth of A549 xenografts in nude mice. These results suggest that, under the correct conditions, A549 cells, although transformed, still retain the capacity to respond to differentiation-inducing signals from normal fibroblasts.

Identification and characterisation in vitro of cells with a non-SCLC cell-like phenotype derived from a continuous SCLC cell line.

Two adherent sublines, H69V and H69VZ, have been isolated from the classic SCLC cell line NCI-H69. Significant morphological differences were observed between the parental and the derivative cell lines. While NCI-H69 grew as densely packed free floating cellular aggregates the derivative lines grew as a monolayer of epithelioid cells. The growth rates of both the derivative lines were faster than the parental line with doubling times closer to non-SCLC cell lines in the derivative lines. Both H69V and H69VZ either express very low levels or do not express neuroendocrine cell markers including L-dopa-decarboxylase (DDC), creatine kinase-BB isoenzyme (CK-BB), bombesin-like immunoreactivity (BLI), neuron specific enolase (NSE), and neurosecretory type dense core granules (DGCs), compared to the parental cell line. All the lines stained positive for epithelial markers such as CAM5.2. LDH isoenzyme and chromosome analyses confirmed the human origin of all the cell lines. Therefore, it appears that cell line NCI-H69 contains stem cell subpopulation capable of generating cells of both small and non-small cell like phenotypes.

Oncogene transfection of mink lung cells: effect on growth characteristics in vitro and in vivo.

Three sublines have been derived from the parental line Mv1Lu by transfection with normal and mutated Ha-ras, and myc oncogenes, and subsequent cloning. All the oncogenes have increased the growth rate of the cell in vitro, increased their plating efficiency in monolayer and suspension, and reduced their serum dependence. Growth in vivo as xenografts in nude mice has also been increased. Very few tumours were generated from the parental line and those that did form did so after a prolonged lag period, while the transfected lines produced tumours with 100% efficiency, and a short lag period. In general the effects of ras transfection were more extreme, with the highest growth rates and plating efficiencies in vitro and the shortest lag period and doubling times in vivo. There was no increase in plasminogen activator activity as a result of transfection, and the invasive behaviour of the lines in organotypic culture was broadly similar.

The effect of H-ras oncogene transfection on response of mink lung epithelial cells to growth factors and cytotoxic drugs.

Mink lung epithelial cells were transfected with c-myc and activated H-ras genes. The transfected sublines formed colonies in soft agar and were tumorigenic when injected subcutaneously into athymic nude mice. DNA synthesis was measured in each of the cell lines by 3H-thymidine incorporation and in the parent line there was dose related stimulation of DNA synthesis by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and inhibition by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). The c-myc transfected line had a reduced inhibitory response to TGF-beta and an exaggerated stimulatory response to EGF whereas the activated H-ras1 transfected line did not respond to TGF-beta or EGF. The activated H-ras1 transfected line was significantly more resistant to doxorubicin (ID50, 4.4 nM) and vincristine (ID50, 4.9 nM) than the parent mink lung epithelial cell line (ID50, 2.7 nM and 2.4 nM respectively). It would appear that oncogene transfection can alter the sensitivity of mink lung epithelial cells to both exogenous growth factors and cytotoxic drugs.

Circumvention of pleiotropic drug resistance in subcutaneous tumours in vivo with verapamil and clomipramine.

The development of pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) in vivo in solid tumour models suggests that a similar process may occur in the clinic. A subline of the Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma (ROS)--a murine subcutaneously-growing solid tumour--with moderate resistance (1.5 fold) to actinomycin D was selected by repeated suboptimal treatment with this drug in vivo. This subline (ROS/ADX/G2) showed cross-resistance to vincristine (3.5 fold) and etoposide (over 5.1 fold) but not to doxorubicin. The resistance could in all cases be partly or completely overcome by treatment with non-cytotoxic doses of verapamil or clomipramine. Resistance to actinomycin in this model was associated with lower (up to 3.2 fold) drug accumulation into tumours which could be increased (up to 2.8 fold) by treatment with 25 micrograms/g verapamil. These data support clinical trials of the use of membrane-active agents to overcome PDR.

Regulation of cyclic AMP formation in cultures of human foetal astrocytes by beta 2-adrenergic and adenosine receptors.

Two cell cultures, NEP2 and NEM2, isolated from human foetal brain have been maintained through several passages and found to express some properties of astrocytes. Both cell cultures contain adenylate cyclase stimulated by catecholamines with a potency order of isoprenaline greater than adrenaline greater than salbutamol much greater than noradrenaline, which is consistent with the presence of beta 2-adrenergic receptors. This study reports that the beta 2-adrenergic-selective antagonist ICI 118,551 is approximately 1,000 times more potent at inhibiting isoprenaline stimulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) formation in both NEP2 and NEM2 than the beta 1-adrenergic-selective antagonist practolol. This observation confirms the presence of beta 2-adrenergic receptors in these cell cultures. The formation of cAMP in NEP2 is also stimulated by 5'-(N-ethylcarboxamido)adenosine (NECA) more potently than by either adenosine or N6-(L-phenylisopropyl)adenosine (L-PIA), which suggests that this foetal astrocyte expresses adenosine A2 receptors. Furthermore, L-PIA and NECA inhibit isoprenaline stimulation of cAMP formation, a result suggesting the presence of adenosine A1 receptors on NEP2. The presence of A1 receptors is confirmed by the observation that the A1-selective antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine reverses the inhibition of isoprenaline stimulation of cAMP formation by L-PIA and NECA. Additional evidence that NEP2 expresses adenosine receptors linked to the adenylate cyclase-inhibitory GTP-binding protein is provided by the finding that pretreatment of these cells with pertussis toxin reverses the adenosine inhibition of cAMP formation stimulated by either isoprenaline or forskolin.

Glucocorticoids and the cell surface of human glioma cells: relationship to cytostasis.

The glucocorticoid hormones methyl prednisolone and dexamethasone were shown to be cytostatic, but not cytotoxic, at high cell densities for early passage and continuous cell lines from human glioma at 0.25 microM and above, in the presence or absence of serum. In the absence of serum both steroids at 2.5 nM increased the saturation density close to the level reached in serum. Examination of the iodinated glycoproteins of the cell surface by gel electrophoresis did not reveal any consistent change. However, gel exclusion chromatography of protease digests of the cell surface and of material released into the medium showed an increase in incorporation of 3H-glucosamine in pronase digests after treatment with methyl prednisolone. Ion exchange chromatography showed that sulphated glycosaminoglycans, particularly heparan sulphate, increased and hyaluronic acid decreased in response to steroids, and there was increased retention of GAGs on the cell surface relative to the released fraction. It was concluded that glucocorticoid hormones modify the cell surface of human glioma cells and that this may contribute to enhanced cell intraction and lead to increased density limitation of cell proliferation.

Circumvention of drug resistance in human non-small cell lung cancer in vitro by verapamil.

The sensitivity of 7 human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines to each of 7 cytotoxic drugs was determined. None of the cell lines used in these experiments had been previously exposed to cytotoxic drugs in vitro. A pattern of cross-resistance (P less than 0.05) between the drugs adriamycin (ADR), vincristine (VC) and etoposide (VP16) was noted similar to that seen in other models. The calcium antagonist verapamil (6.6 microM) was shown to increase sensitivity (up to 29-fold) to ADR, VC or VP16 in 5 cell lines. For 2 of the cell lines (A549 and WIL) 2.2 microM verapamil increased VP16 cytotoxicity (up to 4-fold). Drug accumulation studies in 2 cell lines (A549 and SK-MES-1) showed that 6.6 microM verapamil increased intracellular levels of VC up to 4-fold with the greatest increase seen in the cell line (SK-MES-1) for which verapamil produced the greatest increase in cytotoxicity (10-fold). For ADR and VP16 increases in drug accumulation were smaller (up to 1.6-fold). Our data support a potential clinical role for verapamil in overcoming cytotoxic drug resistance in human lung cancer.