Karyotypic analysis of seven established human esophageal carcinoma cell lines

Fifty metaphases from each of seven esophageal carcinoma cell lines (TE-1, TE-4, TE-5, TE-6, TE-9, HCE-6, and HCE-8) were karyotypically analyzed for both numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities. The modes of numerical variation found in the TE cell lines were as follows: 1) a wide range of variation in chromosome numbers (45-100)/cell with a modal number of 52 (TE-1); and 2) a narrow range of variation at the hypertetraploidy level (TE-4), hypotriploidy level (TE-5 and TE-6) and hypertriploidy level (TE-9). The distribution of chromosomal number/cell in cell lines HCE-6 and HCE-8 was extremely diverse. It was difficult to find a modal number in the range of 94-117 in the HCE-6 line or in the range of 45-52 in the HCE-8 line. The structural changes were extensive in all of these cell lines. Chromosomes most frequently involved in the structural changes were 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9. Most of these abnormalities resulted from simple deletion, duplication, insertion, inversion or translocation. A few of them were complicated rearrangements. No breakpoint was shared by all of the cell lines.