A glial fibrillary acidic protein-expressing and tumorigenic cell line derived from an avian sarcoma virus-induced rat astrocytoma.

A permanent cell line, S635c15, was derived from an anaplastic astrocytoma induced by the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of avian sarcoma virus (ASV) in a female F-344 rat. Persistent expression of the astrocytic differentiation protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), was detected both in cultured cells after 100 passages in vitro and in transplanted tumors. Subcutaneous and intracerebral transplantation of S635c15 cells in syngeneic rats resulted in a 100% tumor incidence and a reproducible mortality distribution. S635c15 cells formed discrete masses after subcutaneous injection but grew intracranially as infiltrative lesions. Tumor blood flow and blood-to-tissue transport studies yield comparable values to other rat glioma models; S635c15 intracranial tumors proved to be a homogeneous model with little variation within and between tumors with respect to morphology, GFAP expression, blood flow, and permeability. This cell line provides a GFAP-expressing brain tumor model that extends the use of autochthonous ASV-induced astrocytomas by allowing in vitro and in vivo studies. It may be useful for further studies in neurobiology and brain tumor biology, diagnosis, and therapy.