Dedifferentiated variants of a rat hepatoma: partial reversion induced by cell aggregation

Dedifferentiated rat hepatoma variant cells of clone Faof1 fail to express most of the liver-specific functions characteristic of its line or origin, H4IIEC3. When Faof1 cells are cultivated for 48 hr in the form of aggregates two cell types can be recovered from monolayer cultures established from the aggregates: the majority of cells are similar to the Faof1 parental line, but a new cell type (designated dag) that adheres only weakly to the substrate is present at a frequency of 2--12 X 10(-2). Eight dag populations and eight clones are characterized as being different from Faof1 cells by the production of serum albumin, aldolase B and in some cases activity of alcohol dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase. No dag cells are recovered after 18 or 24 hours of aggregation, but after 48 or 96 hrs 1--5% of the cells give rise to clones of dag cells. During aggregation cells are committed to become dag cells but their new phenotype is expressed only after 5--12 days. The fraction of dag cells in colonies that grow out from aggregates suggests that dag transformation is not a clonal event. These experiments demonstrate that a transitory change in the culture conditions of Faof1 cells can lead to a heritable modification in phenotypic expression. Since dag cells fail to express the liver-specific gluconeogenic enzymes that permit cells to grow in glucose-free medium, it is possible to select from dag populations revertants in which expression of these activities is restored. The frequency of appearance of such dag revertants is not increased by the action of EMS.