Abstract
Two sublines of a breast epithelial cell culture, MCF-10, derived from human fibrocystic mammary tissue exhibit immortality after extended cultivation in low calcium concentrations (0.03–0.06 mm) and floating transfers in low calcium (MCF-10F), or by trypsin-Versene passages in the customary (normal) calcium levels, 1.05 mm (MCF-10A). Both sublines have been maintained as separate entities after 2.3 years (849 days) in vitro and at present have been in culture for longer than 4 years. MCF-10 has the characteristics of normal breast epithelium by the following criteria: (a) lack of tumorigenicity in nude mice; (b) three-dimensional growth in collagen; (c) growth in culture that is controlled by hormones and growth factors; (d) lack of anchorage-independent growth; and (e) dome formation in confluent cultures. Cytogenetic analysis prior to immortalization showed normal diploid cells; although later passages showed minimal rearrangement and near-diploidy, the immortal cells were not karyotypically normal. The emergence of an immortal culture in normal calcium media was not an inherent characteristic of the original tissue from which MCF-10 was derived since reactivated cryopreserved cells from cultures grown for 0.3 and 1.2 years in low calcium were incapable of sustained growth in normal calcium.
These investigations were supported in part by NIH Grants CA28999, CA36399, and CA38921 and institutional grants to the Michigan Cancer Foundation from the United Foundation of Greater Detroit and from Abbott Laboratories. Cell characterization studies were carried out under National Cancer Institute Contract N01-CP-21017 to Children's Hospital of Michigan.