Establishment and characterization of a human malignant fibrous histiocytoma cell line

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is the most frequent soft tissue sarcoma. However, the pathogenesis still remains unclear, because there are very few human malignant fibrous histiocytoma cell lines available for precise cellular study. In this study, a human malignant fibrous histiocytoma cell line (MMF-1) was established from the pulmonary metastatic lesion of a 55-year-old man with malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Human cell line MMF-1 and its heterotransplanted tumor had almost the same characteristics as the original tumor morphologically and immunohistochemically. This cell line is expected to be a useful for studying the pathogenesis of malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The cloned cell lines (MMF-2 and MMF-3) also consisted of spindle-shaped, polygonal, and multinucleated giant cells, meaning that the fibroblast-like cells, histiocyte-like cells, and multinucleated giant cells seen in malignant fibrous histiocytoma were derived from a single tumor cell. Human cell line MMF-1 produced inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-8, and monocyte chemotactic and activating factor, that might be involved in the morphogenesis of malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Furthermore, the results of the analysis of human cell line MMF-1 suggested that malignant fibrous histiocytoma originated from a poorly differentiated fibroblast.