[MTX sensitivity and the mechanism of resistance of various choriocarcinoma cells in culture].

The sensitivity to methotrexate (MTX) and mechanisms of the drug resistance of seven kinds of human choriocarcinoma cell lines were studied in vitro. The results were as follows. Each cell line of HCCM-5 , BeWo, IMa, and NUC-1 secreted more than 200ng/10(6) cells/48 hours of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), whereas GCH-1, ENAMI-1, and SCH secreted less than 20ng/10(6) cells/48 hours. HCCM-5 cell line was the most sensitive to MTX judging from the inhibition of both 3H-thymidine uptake and cell growth in vitro. Each cell line of BeWo, IMa, and NUC-1 revealed sensitivity to 2 X 10(-8)M MTX, but such cell lines as GCH-1, ENAMI-1, and SCH showed resistance to MTX. The cell lines which revealed sensitivity to MTX incorporated more 3H-MTX and showed less intracellular dihydrofolate reductase activity than resistant cell lines.