Squamous cell differentiation in a clonal teratocarcinoma cell line

Abstract

Several clonal teratocarcinoma cell lines restricted to squamous cell differentiation have been established from a subculture of totipotential murine teratocarcinoma stem cells. These lines contain a continuum of cell types from less differentiated precursor cells to differentiated squamous cells. In contrast to their highly malignant progenitors, these cells are nontumorigenic. Chromosomally, the cells are near-tetraploid, and their DNA distributions are tetraploid. These cells lines may prove useful in the study of normal squamous cell differentiation and also will be important in studies concerning the conversion of malignant cells to non-malignant progeny.