Megakaryoblastic leukemia in an infant: Establishment of a megakaryocytic tumor cell line in athymic nude mice

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Abstract
A 17-month-old infant with clinical and pathologic features of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia and myelofibrosis developed soft tissue metastases. Tissue from an orbital metastasis was biopsied and transplanted into a nude mouse. Histologically the tumor was composed of pleomorphic cells with single convoluted nuclei or multilobed nuclei and prominent granular cytoplasm and had an alveolar histologic pattern in some areas. The ultrastructural features of the tumor cells include multilobed nuclei with prominent nucleoli and cytoplasmic granules with the characteristics of alpha-granules. The tumor has been successfully passaged over a 1-year interval and appears to be a stable megakaryoblastic tumor cell line (CHRF-288). Cells from the tumor line are reactive for factor VIII related antigen and also have GpIIb IIIa complex antigen on the plasma membrane surface. This tumor line may be a useful system for investigation of megakaryocytic functions including the production and regulation of the various factors they produce.