A Novel Cell Line (NCU-L-1) from a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, FAB, L3, Burkitt's Type

A novel cultured cell line, NCU-L-1, was established from a 71-year-old Japanese woman with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, L3 FAB, Burkitt's type. The NCU-L-1 cells were shown to have a mature B-cell phenotype on the basis of immunologic surface marker analysis; including IgG Lambda surface immunoglobulins, CD19, CD20 and la-like antigen which were all detected on the cells. Intracytoplasmic immunoglobulin was not detected, but IgG was present in the cell culture supernatant. Cytogenetic studies revealed that the NCU-L-1 cells had t(2; 8) and an additional 14q+, a genotype which has not been identified previously in the usual Burkitt's cell lines. The NCU-L-1 cell line should prove to be useful for studying oncogenic events associated with the t(2; 8) translocation and karyotype evolution.