Inducer-dependent phenotypic divergence in an embryonal-carcinoma cell line

In monolayer cultures, embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells from the cell line Nulli-SCCl can be induced to differentiate at high efficiency by exposure to either retinoic acid or hexamethylenebisacetamide. Depending on which inducing agent is used, two distinct differentiated phenotypes result. These phenotypes resemble two of the earliest differentiated derivatives of the cells of the inner cell mass of a mouse blastocyst, i.e., parietal and visceral endoderm. Both differ from EC cells as well as from each other on the basis of their morphology, antigenic expression, secretion of plasminogen activator, and protein-synthetic profiles.