Murine colon adenocarcinomas: methods for selective culture in vitro.

Two murine colon adenocarcinoma cell lines were established from primary cultures. The MCA-38 cell line was begun by treatment of the primary culture with trypsin to remove the fibroblastoid elements. The MCA-36 epithelial cells were sensitive to trypsin; therefore, the growth medium of MCA-36 primary cultures was augmented with collagenase to release the tumor-cell elements from the fibroblast network. These tumor elements were dissociated with trypsin and placed in tissue culture. Each cell line was cultured for at least 10 passages in vitro and gave rise to tumors when reimplanted in vivo.