<b>ESTABLISHMENT OF A FUNCTIONING EPITHELIAL CELL LINE FROM THE RAT THYMUS. A CELL LINE THAT INDUCES THE DIFFERENTIATION OF RAT BONE MARROW CELLS INTO T CELL </b><b>LINEAGE </b>

Abstract

An epithelial cell line, which is capable of inducing the differentiation of rat bone marrow cells into T cell lineage, has been established from a normal rat thymus. Thymus tissues were minced and dispersed with collagenase and trypsin. About 8 months after the initiation of cultures, the IT-45Rl line was established by utilizing the difference in the strength of adhesiveness of epithelial cells and fibroblasts. IT-45R1 line cells were identified as epithelial cells of thymic origin because of their mosaic-like a.rrangement, desmosomes and tonofilaments, as previously described with regard to . The generation doubling time of this line was calculated to be 60 hr. Karyotype analysis showed that the chromosome number ranged from 57 to 76 with the mode of 67.