Establishment and characterization of a clear cell carcinoma cell line, designated NOCC, derived from human ovary

• DOI: 10.1007/s13577-016-0142-x
• Publication Date: 2016-08-19T08:40:55Z
• Authors: Akihiro Ohyama; Junko Toyomura; Toshiaki Tachibana; Seiji Isonishi; Haruka Takahashi; Hiroshi Ishikawa
• Keywords: Ovarian Neoplasms; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Antineoplastic Agents; Mice, SCID; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Chromosomes; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Cell Line, Tumor; Animals; Humans; Female; Neoplasm Transplantation; Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell; Cell Proliferation

A cell line, designated NOCC, was established from the ascites of a patient with clear cell adenocarcinoma of the ovary. The cell line has been grown without interruption and continuously propagated by serial passaging (more than 76 times) over 7 years. The cells are spherical to polygonal-shaped, display neoplastic, and pleomorphic features, and grow in a jigsaw puzzle-like pattern while forming monolayers without contact inhibition. The cells proliferate rapidly, but are easily floated as a cell sheet. The population doubling time is about 29 h. The number of chromosomes ranges from 60 to 83. The modal number of chromosomes is 70-74 at the 30th passage. NOCC cells secreted 750.5 ng/ml of VEGF over 3 days of culture. Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a primary regulator of VEGF under hypoxic conditions. NOCC cells were not sensitive to the anticancer drugs BEV, DOX, GEM, ETP, CDDP, or TXT. The graft of NOCC cells to a scid mouse displayed similar histological aspects to the original tumor. Both the NOCC cells and the graft of the NOCC cells gave a positive PAS reaction.