Establishment and characterization of four human medulloblastoma-derived cell lines

We have established four cell lines, UW228-1, UW228-2, UW228-3 and UW443, from two posterior fossa medulloblastomas. The three UW228 sublines originated from a tumor with a diploid DNA content, while the tumor of origin of UW443 was predominantly tetraploid. Both tumors displayed areas of immunopositivity for synaptophysin and glial fibrillary acidic protein. All four cell lines have been grown as monolayers in continuous culture for 50 to 200 passages, are not contact inhibited at high density, and form colonies in soft agar. The UW228 sublines are aneuploid, have similar modal chromosome numbers, similar chromosomal duplications and identical marker chromosomes, and display loss of heterozygosity for identical sequences at the distal end of chromosome 17p. UW443 is diploid and also shows loss of heterozygosity for a distal sequence on chromosome 17p. All lines are immunopositive for two or more neurofilament proteins, three lines (UW228-1, UW228-2 and UW443) are immunopositive for synaptophysin, and none are immunopositive for glial fibrillary acidic protein. The lines differ in sensitivity to the alkylating agents 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. They also differ in dependence on the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase for alkylating agent resistance and in levels of the DNA repair activities apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and DNA polymerase beta. These properties establish UW228-1, UW228-2, UW228-3 and UW443 as four new, phenotypically distinct medulloblastoma-derived cell lines.