Establishment and characterization of a strain of human adrenal tumor cells that secrete estrogen.

We report the establishment of a new cell line, designated Fang-8, which originated from a human adrenal adenocarcinoma. It has been continuously propagated during the past 20 months. The cells exhibit an epithelioid morphology, resembling the cell structure of the zona reticularis when viewed by electron microscopy. Since passage 12, the cells showed a characteristic ring-forming property in culture. The cells produce neither testosterone, mineralocorticosteroids, nor glucocorticosteroids; instead, they possess the unique function of estrogen production. Karyotypic analysis revealed a 100% aneuploid, unstable karyotype in the hyperdiploid stem line. Identification of the Y chromosome was uncertain. In view of these characteristics, Fang-8 represents a new human cell line, unlikely to be contaminated with HeLa strains, and different from another cell line derived from human adrenal cortex andenocarcinoma, namely SW-13(ATCC CCL 105).