Spontaneous phenotypic and karyotypic progression in the SV40 transfected cell line SVG during prolonged passage in vitro.

Transfection of primary cultures of human cells with origin of replication deficient SV40 DNA has been carried out by others to generate in vitro models of malignant transformation in vivo. The present work describes progressive alterations in karyotype and phenotype in one such transfected (neuroglial) cell line (SVG). After repeated passage, recognisable marker chromosomes evolved. These may be related to karyotypic anomalies found in human glial tumors. Accompanying the evolution in karyotype were changes in phenotype. Although presaging malignant transformation, these stopped short of actual tumorigenicity.