Karyotypic derivation of H9 cell line expressing human immunodeficiency virus susceptibility

The T-cell lymphoma HUT78 cell line and the H9 clone of the CD4-positive HT cell line, derived from HUT78, are known to be genetically identical on the basis of allozyme (allelic isozyme) patterns and DNA fingerprinting, but the chromosome compositions of these cell lines have not been determined. The HT cell line and its H9 clone carry susceptibility to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The purpose of this study was to examine specific chromosome changes linking the expression of the HIV susceptibility that is unique to H9 cells by characterizing the karyotypes of the HUT78 and the H9 cell lines, by comparing chromosome differences between these lines, and by evaluating the relationships between them.

Air-dried chromosome slides were prepared, and the fast Giemsa-trypsin method was used to delineate G-bands. The numerical distribution of chromosomes from the two cell lines was determined, and complete chromosome analysis in 47 HUT78 metaphases and 21 H9 metaphases with discernible G-banding was used to specify the modal karyotypes of each cell line.

Both cell lines had complex karyotypes that contained 47%-65% structurally modified marker chromosomes. The distribution of numbers of chromosomes in HUT78 cultures was broad. There were two distinct modal numbers of chromosomes at 42 and 43 and at 73, resulting from the presence of three actively growing sublines: two hypodiploid (1s) sublines (HUT78/1sA and HUT78/1sB) and a hypertriploid (2s) subline (HUT78/2s), respectively. HUT78/1sA and HUT78/1sB differed by five reciprocal chromosome replacements, and HUT78/2s had double copies of most of the chromosomes in 1s cells. H9 and HUT78/2s had had 21 matching markers, 10 of which were paired; contained 21 chromosomes with the same number of copies; consistently lacked eight homologous normal chromosomes; and showed close modal numbers of chromosomes at 69 and 73, respectively.

Derivation of the 2s subline from the 1s subline by polyploidization is apparent. All lines apparently had the same progenitor cell population, and HUT78/2s represents an intermediate linking HUT78/1s to H9.

These data should be useful for studying specific chromosome changes linking the expression of the HIV susceptibility unique to H9 cells. Karyologic studies such as those presented here can provide data (a) to clearly identify the clonal cell population of a subline, (b) to examine relationships among sublines of the same progenitor, and (c) to provide a clue that may link a subtle chromosome change to a phenotypic expression.