Establishment of a cell line from a hepatocellular carcinoma from a patient with hemochromatosis

✍ Scribed by Dr. Garwin K. Sing; Raymond Pace; Sharon Prior; Janet S. D. Scott; Paul Shield; Nicole Martin; Jeffrey Searle; Cameron Battersby; Lawrie W. Powell; W. Graham E. Cooksley

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 860 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840200112

✦ Synopsis

We describe the establishment and characterization of a novel hepatoma cell line. This cell line, designated RBHF-1, was established from a hepatocellular carcinoma of a 67-yr-old man with a history of genetic hemochromatosis. At this writing, the cells have been maintained in RPMI-1640 tissue-culture medium and fetal calf serum without any additional supplements for 30 mo. The cells form colonies on soft agar and are not tumorigenic in nude mice. The cell line is polymorphic and displays characteristics of mature hepatocytes by synthesizing albumin, %-macroglobulin, fibronectin and a-fetoprotein. Cytogenetic analysis shows multiple chromosomal aberrations, with a consistent deletion in the long arm and deletions or rearrangements in the short arm of chromosome 1. There is no evidence for hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus infection of the cell line. The cells contain no detectable intracellular iron after staining with Perls' stain. Unlike other hepatoma cell lines, there is no detectable binding of epidermal growth factor to RBHF-I cells. This is the first cell line to be established from a patient with hemochromatosis, and it provides a potentially important model for the study of hepatocyte transformation in association with iron overload. (HEPATOLOGY 1994;20:74-81.) Although HCC is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. The most common predisposing factor to hepatocarcinogenesis is the development of cirrhosis, whether caused by hepatitis virus infection, chemical carcinogens or genetic hemochromatosis (GH) (1). In patients with GH, there is a close correlation between chronic iron overload and the development of hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis and an increased risk of HCC (2-4); several studies have shown a 200 times greater risk of HCC in patients with GH compared with the general