Establishment and partial characterization of five malignant glioma cell lines

Five malignant glioma cell lines (YMG1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) were established from surgical specimens obtained from patients with glioblastoma or anaplastic astrocytoma, and these lines were partially characterized. Three glioma cell lines (YMG1, 3, and 5) were weakly positive for GFAP by Western blot analysis and two cell lines were negative. S-100 protein was positive in all glioma cell lines. The expression of p53, p16, p15, cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4), and EGF receptor (EGFR) proteins was examined by Western blotting. YMG1 and 2 cell lines showed accumulation of p53 protein and loss of p16 and p15 expression. YMG3 and 4 showed accumulation of p53 protein and expression of p16 and p15 proteins. YMG5 revealed weak expression of p53 protein, suggesting wild-type p53, and loss of p16 and p15 expression. All cell lines expressed various levels of CDK4 protein. YMG1, 2, and 3 showed higher EGFR protein expression and YMG4 and 5 showed lower EGFR expression compared to U251 glioblastoma cells, which express high levels of EGFR. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis for EGFR gene expression did not show any amplification in the glioma cell lines. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the patterns of p53 and EGFR expressions in the original tumor tissues were mostly correlated with those in the malignant glioma cell lines. These results suggest that the characteristics of p53 and EGFR expression in the malignant glioma cell lines were passed over from the original tumor tissues. These newly established malignant glioma cell lines can be used for further analysis of the mechanisms of tumor growth and progression.