Establishment and characterization of a human glioblastoma cell line with a stable karyotype and nullisomy 13.

A permanent cell line (HeRo) with a stable karyotype (80-84,XXYY) and with defined numerical and structural chromosome aberrations was established from a human glioblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor. Transformation of these cells with SV40 led to a second permanent cell line (HeRo-SV) with a reduced, but also stable, karyotype (72-74,XXYY). The morphological appearance of the glioblastoma line was similar to the main component of the original tumor tissue. The transformed cells differed from their counterparts in accelerated growth, enhanced growth in soft agar, reduced growth conditions, expression of SV40 T antigen, and altered epitheloid morphology. Both cell lines have been grown in continuous culture for more than 2 years. The stability of both the biologic properties and the karyotypic changes induced by SV40 is quite remarkable. Both lines show a nullisomy 13.