Characterization of the human mandibular osteoblastic osteosarcoma cell line HOSM-2 after long-term culture

We have been subculturing a human mandible-derived osteosarcoma cell line (HOSM-2) for approximately 15 years, and have compared the characters of early generations, which did not exhibit tumorigenicity, to those in the later generations. The shape and doubling time of the cells did not change during long-term culture. The number of chromosomes, however, changed from 59-81 in the 6th generation (modal number: 70) to 54-59 (modal number: 56 and 57), and the chromosomal structure also changed. In addition, the cell line in the later generations showed tumorigenicity in nude mice, and Codon 306 of the p53 gene was mutated to a stop codon due to a point mutation. HOSM-2 cells expressed osteoblast markers, thus confirming them to be osteoblastic osteosarcoma cells. These results showed that changes in certain genes in the HOSM-2 cells led to tumorigenicity in nude mice following long-term culture. In addition, as a mandible-derived cell line with characteristics different from those of limb-derived osteosarcoma cell lines, HOSM-2 cells may be a valuable model for mandibular osteosarcoma and osteoblasts.