MULTIPOTENTIALITY OF SINGLE EMBRYONAL CARCINOMA CELLS.

TLDR

The study aimed to test whether embryonal carcinoma cells are multipotential stem cells of a teratocarcinoma by employing an in‑vivo cloning technique. Single embryoid bodies derived from a murine teratocarcinoma were dissociated into single cells, which were then isolated and transplanted into mice. From 1,700 single‑cell grafts, 44 clonal lines were obtained, 43 of which formed teratocarcinomas containing up to fourteen differentiated tissues, demonstrating the multipotentiality and heterogeneity of embryonal carcinoma cells and supporting a stem‑cell theory of cancer.

Abstract

Summary In order to test the hypothesis that embryonal carcinoma cells are multipotential stem cells of a teratocarcinoma, an in vivo cloning technic was designed. Small embryoid bodies containing mostly embryonal carcinoma were obtained from ascitic conversion of a murine teratocarcinoma and were dissociated with trypsin to form a suspension of single cells; the single cells were picked up in small capillary tubes and transplanted directly into mice. From over 1700 single cell grafts, 44 clonal lines were obtained; 43 of these lines were teratocarcinomas composed of as many as fourteen well differentiated somatic tissues in addition to embryonal carcinoma. These 43 lines varied in their degree of differentiation, capacity to produce embryoid bodies, and in growth rate. The remaining clonal line showed limited potential for differentiation, producing only yolk sac, trophoblast, and embryonal carcinoma. The results demonstrated the multipotentiality of single embryonal carcinoma cells, as well as the heterogeneity of the embryonal carcinoma of a teratocarcinoma. The capacity of single embryonal carcinoma cells to differentiate into benign tissues supports neither the dogma of the irreversibility of the malignant transformation nor the somatic cell mutation theory of cancer. These findings were interpreted as giving strong support to the stem cell theory of cancer.