In vitro growth characteristics of skin fibroblasts from patients with adenomatosis of the colon and rectum and their relatives.

Sub-epidermal biopsies from normal-appearing skin of the upper arm were obtained from patients with adenomatosis of the colon and rectum (ACR) and their relatives. A total of 78 different fibroblast cell strains were tested for their in vitro growth characteristics (plating efficiency, cloning efficiency, growth rate, ability to grow in low-serum medium, cultural morphology, anchorage dependency, contact inhibition at saturation density). The cell strains included 6 from patients with Gardner's syndrome, 25 from patients with ACR without Gardner's syndrome, 9 from "at risk" relatives, and 38 from healthy relatives who were not at an increased risk for ACR. No consistent growth differences were found between the cell strains from the different groups. Instead, this material provides a "normal standard" for in vitro growth characteristics of human skin fibroblasts.