The Establishment of Strains of Human Cells in Tissue Culture

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Abstract
Summary: The establishment of five human cell lines has been described. They were derived from human embryonic intestine, liver, lung, skin and muscle explants, and from a liver biopsy. The early cultures revealed fibroblasts and histiocyte-like cells but after 60 to 92 days of total cultivation new types of cells appeared, which grew rapidly and could be maintained thereafter in serial passage, whereas the earlier types of cells were lost. The cells finally established fall into two groups: (I) epithelial-like cells (intestine 407, liver 407, R and MAF-E lines) which resemble morphologically other cell strains derived from malignant (HeLa, KB) and normal human tissues (Chang's intestine, liver, kidney and conjunctiva); and (II) small, round, or irregularly shaped cells (Lung To) which are indistinguishable from McCulloch's MCN cells obtained from leukemic bone marrow. The implications of these findings have been discussed.