Chromosome analysis and alkaline phosphatase of C41, a cell line of human cervical origin distinct from HeLa.

The C41 cell line, which was derived from a human squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix, has been characterized by analysis of quinacrine-banded metaphase chromosomes and study of alkaline phosphatase. C41 cells have a distinctive karyotype. They are hypodiploid, with a highly characteristic series of marker chromosomes, most of them derived by translocation or deletion. They contain no HeLa cell marker chromosomes, and the cell line shows no evidence of HeLa cell contamination. Nevertheless, the C41 and the HeLa cell line, both derived from cervix cancer, although of a different histological type, produce similar alkaline phosphatases. The enzyme is heat stable (placental type), is inhibited by L-phenylalanine, and responds to the inducing effects of prednisolone and/or hyperosmolality.