Morphology and growth, tumorigenicity, and cytogenetics of human neuroblastoma cells in continuous culture.

Summary Continuous cell lines, SK-N-SH and SK-N-MC, were established in cell culture from human metastatic neuroblastoma tissue and maintained in vitro for 1 to 2 years. SK-N-SH comprises two morphologically distinctive cell types, a small spiny cell and a large epithelioid cell. SK-N-MC is composed of small fibroblast-like cells with scant cytoplasm. In monolayer culture both cell lines form disoriented growth patterns and reach high saturation densities. Population-doubling times were 44 and 32 hr for SK-N-SH and SK-N-MC, respectively. Inoculum levels of 10 7 cells of both lines produced tumors confirmed by histopathological examination, at frequencies of 30 to 40% in cheek pouches of conditioned Syrian hamsters. SK-N-SH cells are characterized by high dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity while SK-N-MC cells have no detectable activity. However, for SK-N-MC but not SK-N-SH, the presence of intracellular catecholamine was indicated by formaldehyde-induced fluorescence. The lines are near-diploid with several chromosomal markers; SK-N-MC cells contain double- minute chromosomes. Growth, biochemical, and cytogenetic properties confirmed that the lines comprise malignant cells of neurogenic origin.