Transplantation of immortalized, nontumorigenic parotid acinar cells into the allogeneic rat parotid gland and oral submucosa.

The recent establishment of an immortalized clonal cell line of rat parotid acinar cells (2RSG) by transfecting isoproterenol-stimulated parotid cells with a plasmid vector, pSV3neo which carries the large T-antigen gene from SV40 virus, afforded the opportunity to develop a model for parotid acinar cell transplantation. Single cell suspensions of 2RSG cells labeled with a fluorescent tracer, DiI, were injected into the parotid gland or oral submucosa of allogeneic adult rats. The grafted cells survived and were functionally viable for at least 30 days. Histological sections revealed no evidence of infiltration of leukocytes or lymphocytes. Grafted cells did not form tumors. Results suggest that allogeneic parotid acinar cell transplantation is a feasible technique in the animal model.