Tumorigenicity, major histocompatibility antigens, and karyotypes of interspecific hybrids between mouse neuroblastoma and rat glioma or liver cells.

Five interspecific hybrids of mouse neuroblastoma with rat glioma (NG108-15, 140-3, and 141-B) or with nontransformed rat liver cells (NBr-10A and NBr-20A) were examined for major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens and tumorigenicity in comparison with their karyotypes. Both mouse and rat MHC antigens were present in each hybrid population, as determined by a simple cytotoxicity test. All five hybrid cell lines produced tumors in athymic nude mice with varied take incidences. Four hybrid cells, NG108-15, 140-3, NBr-10A, and NBr-20A, were highly tumorigenic. Their karyotypes were characterized by a higher modal chromosome numbers than would be expected from the fusion of parent cells in which at least one parent contained an increased number of chromosomes. In contrast, 141-B cells, with massive loss of chromosomes from both malignant parents, were weakly tumorigenic. The results suggest that the retention of marker chromosomes as well as double minutes (DMs) or microchromosomes of neuroblastoma origin may be required for expression of malignancy in these hybrid cells. The survival time of tumor-bearing mice also varied within the five cell lines, but it was significantly short in NG108-15, which yielded lung metastases in the host animals.