Establishment of an oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line(NOS-1) exhibiting amplification of the erbB-1 oncogene and point mutation of p53 tumor suppressor gene: its biological characteristics and animal model of local invasion by orthotopic transplantationof the cell line

Abstract 

We established a new cancer cell line, NOS-1, which was derived from a human oral primary squamous cell carcinoma. Geneticin treatment was adopted to eliminate contaminating fibroblasts and to enrich tumor cells in the early stage of the culture. The NOS-1 cells showed epithelial morphological features with light and electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed their epithelial origin. Overexpression of mutant p53 protein, a p53 point mutation at codon 248 with transition from CGG to TGG, and amplification of the erbB-1 oncogene/epidermal growth factor receptor gene were also observed in NOS-1 cells. The NOS-1 cells formed tumors in nude mice when transplanted subcutaneously into their backs. Further, they were transplantable orthotopically in the tongues of nude mice, and the transplanted tumors in the tongue showed diffuse invasion without forming capsules. The NOS-1 cells were useful for elucidating the mechanism involving p53 inactivation and erbB-1 oncogene amplification, as well as treatment of oral cancer.

Keywords:  Human squamous cell carcinoma cell line, erbB-1 oncogene, p53 tumor suppressor gene, Mouth neoplasms, Xenograft tumors