Characterization of a rat oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line UHG-RaC '93 induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide in vivo.

This study describes several characteristics of a cell line, UHG-RaC '93 derived from rat oral squamous cell carcinoma induced by the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO). The cell line was established from explant cultures without support of fibroblast feeder cells and continued for > 30 passages. UHG-RaC '93 had a high mitotic rate with a population doubling time of 25 h and a high rate of squame production. The first passage had a low colony-forming efficiency in agarose gel, whereas later passages did not grow at all in semi-solid medium. Phenotype selection was furthermore apparent from a gradual increase of the trypsin-detachment time. Cytogenetic analysis showed that UHG-RaC '93 was hypotetraploid with an average of 74 chromosomes. Abnormalities compared to the normal karyotype were assessed and consisted mainly of breakpoints at (1)(q5?3), (3)(p1), (3)(q11q23), (11)(p?11), (13)(p13) and a derivative (12)t(12;13)(q10;q10). The karyotype remained stable for at least 26 passages. The expression of typical epithelioid markers like cytokeratins and desmoglein corresponded with normal rat oral keratinocytes. However expression of alpha 6 beta 4-integrin was altered. Squame production, immunophenotype and anchorage dependency indicated that UHG-RaC '93 had the same features of a well-differentiated carcinoma with a low degree of agressiveness as the original tumour. The stable karyotype of this cell line provides a basis for further analysis of the effect of 4NQO on the genotype, phenotype and behaviour of rat oral keratinocytes.