Characterization of newly established cell line HUOA from a human ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.

We have recently established a cell line, HUOA, of human ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. The cultured cells are various shapes; cylindrical, spindle-shaped, roundish, or polygonal. They are rich in cytoplasm and PAS-positive. They proliferate to form multi-layers without contact inhibition, and they easily form mirror ball-like cysts. These cysts free themselves to float in the culture medium. Cell growth is comparatively slow, and the population doubling time is about 80 hours. The plating efficiency is 16%. The cell line has been cultured for 5 years with more than 100 successful passages and is still proliferating. The HUOA line can be transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice and forms a serous cystadenocarcinoma similar to the original tumor, but when transplanted into the intraperitoneal cavity, the HUOA line forms floating cysts similar to those in vitro. We regard this formation of cyst as an expression of differentiation of the cystadenocarcinoma cells.