Establishment of new epithelial carcinoma cell lines by blocking monolayer formation

Abstract

 Human endometrial carcinoma cell lines were established by using a new cell culture technique. The malignant endometrial tumors were grossly disaggregated by mechanical means and cultivated in suspension culture. Adhesion to the bottom of the culture flasks was prevented by first coating the flasks with a thin agarose layer. Four cell lines were derived from 17 samples by this new technique. The cell lines obtained in this way were fully characterized, including karyotyping, intermediate filament staining and transplantation to nude mice. This new technique of initial suspension culture may also be applicable to other human tumors that are equally difficult to cultivate in vitro.