Growth Characteristics of Human Glioma-derived and Fetal Neural Cells in Culture

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Abstract
Growth characteristics of human fetal neural cells (CH) and human glioblastoma multiforme-derived cells (12–18) in culture were compared. Cells were grown to confluent densities of 38,000 to 42,500 cells/cm2 for CH and 85,800 to 87,100 for 12–18. Population doubling times were 40.0 ± 5.1 hr and 66.5 ± 9.8 hr for CH and 12–18 cells, respectively. The mean DNA content per cell of the glioma-derived cells was twice that of the fetal brain cells at sparse, log, and confluent cell densities. High concentrations (40%) of serum in growth medium increased DNA contents in confluent CH, but not 12–18, cells. The amount of protein per cell also was consistently higher in glioma cells than CH cells, but, as cell densities increased, protein contents decreased for both: 1200 to 700 pg/cell in glioma cells, and 840 to 560 pg/cell in CH cells. In each cell line, initial rates of [3H]ThdR incorporation into TCA precipitable material decreased as cell density increased, but confluent glioma-derived cells incorporated 10 times more [3H]ThdR than confluent fetal cells. Almost all CH cells had a normal diploid chromosome number of 46. A histogram showing the relative frequencies of chromosome numbers of glioma-derived cells had peaks of 52, 79, and 105 chromosomes per metaphase, indicating a haploid number of 26 for most cells. Lengths of cell cycle phases, determined using autoradiographic techniques, indicate that glioma-derived cells had a longer generation time and S period than fetal neural cells. These data demonstrate several biological differences between glioblastomaderived cells and non-neoplastic fetal neural cells, indicating that this system is of potential value for comparative studies on growth control and contact inhibition.