Establishment of three rat soft tissue tumor cell lines with different degrees of myogenic differentiation.

Soft tissue malignancies often show divergent differentiation, including myogenic lineage. Five rat tumors induced with 20-hydroxymethylcholanthrene (20-OH-MCA), were cultured in vitro, and three cell lines (YMC-1, YMC-2, YMC-3) were established from them. YMC-2 and -3 cells were spindle-shaped, and YMS-1 cells round and epithelioid. In confluency, YMC-3 cells formed myotubes. The nude mouse xenotransplants showed morphological features consistent with their myogenic phenotypes. Muscle-specific enzyme activities were highest in YMC-3 cells. These lines may be useful in the investigation of the myogenic differentiation of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells.