Human epithelial cell line established from a child with juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis

Papillae were removed from a 2-yr-old boy with juvenile squamous cell papillomatosis and the tissue was grown in vitro. The method leading to the establishment of a continuous laryngeal papilloma cell line is described. This epithelial cell line was benign, as judged by cell morphology and cellular inability to form colonies in soft agar or to produce growing nodules in nude mice. Papilloma virus particles were not seen through the electron microscope. In the early stages of culture, the cells contained antigen that stained specifically with autologous serum.