Pluripotent teratocarcinoma-thymus somatic cell hybrids.

We have produced a series of somatic cell hybrids by fusing pluripotent PCC4aza1 embryonal carcinoma ("teretocarcinoma") cells with thymocytes from young adult mice. When these hybrids form tumors in nu/nu or syngeneic mice, all the tumors contain a range of differentiated tissues, as well as embryonal carcinoma-like tissues. Some of the tumors produce alpha-fetoprotein. These results show that pluripotency in embryonal carcinoma cells need not to be abolished by the introduction of a complete diploid genome from a differentiated cell.