Establishment and characterization of four Sinclair swine cutaneous malignant melanoma cell lines

Cutaneous malignant melanoma of Sinclair Swine (SSCM) is a heritable, congenital neoplasm which either proves fatal to the neonatal animal or undergoes spontaneous regression. Four SSCM cell lines, UISO-SSCM-433, UISO-SSCM-438, UISO-SSCM-5052, and UISO-SSCM-8093, were derived from biopsy specimens of primary tumors removed from swine at 26, 8, and 8 weeks of age, and 15 weeks gestation, respectively. Morphologic features, DOPA oxidase staining, and abnormal karyotype were suggestive of malignant melanoma. Each cell line was morphologically heterogeneous in culture with dendritic, spindle- and cuboidal-shaped cells. Pigmented melanosomes and DOPA oxidase activity were present in all cell lines at passages 20-22. UISO-SSCM-433 and UISO-SSCM-5052 contained hypodiploid and hypotetraploid sublines whereas UISO-SSCM-438 and UISO-SSCM-8093 were hypodiploid and hypotetraploid, respectively. At later passages, all cell lines presented evolutionary, karyotypic changes; the same chromosomes were involved in the alterations, however. Chromosomes 2, 6, 13, and 14 were the most affected, exhibiting numerical and structural alterations in all four cell lines. Despite the presence of multiple chromosomal anomalies in all cell lines, each with a unique set of chromosomal markers, clonal growth was not detected in soft agar, nor were any of the lines tumorigenic following s.c. inoculation in athymic mice. This suggests that the loss of malignant potential in SSCM may be inherent.