Abstract
A continuous epithelial cell line, 816A, was established from a lymph node of an adult rhesus monkey with metastatic esophageal carcinoma. These cells are characterized by the presence of desmosomes and a markedly heteroploid karyotype. At a relatively early culture age, electron microscopy showed both budding and extracellular type C virus. Antigen reactive with antisera to Mason-Pfizer monkey virus was observed by complement-fixation. The level of this antigen decreased with increased culture age. To our knowledge, the 816A cells represent the only established simian or human cell line of esophageal carcinoma origin.
This work was supported in part by the Virus Cancer Program Contracts NO1-CO-75380, NO1-CP-33237, and NO1-CP-61006 from the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Md. 20014.
