Drug resistance studies on intraspecific hybridomas

P388 mouse leukemia lines, one sensitive (P388/S) and the other resistance (P388/R) to vincristine (VCR), cultured in vitro, were hybridized with polyethylene glycol (PEG). A thymidine kinase-deficient mutant (TK-) was isolated from the sensitive line, and a hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient mutant (HPRT-) from the resistant line. The hybrid line grows slower than the mutants. The modal chromosome numbers are: TK- = 38, HPRT- = 40, hybrid = 69 (72). The TK- cells contain a large metacentric marker which is missing from the HPRT- cells. Hybrid cells are as resistant to VCR as the P388/R and HPRT- cells.