Abstract
Three human cell lines, NB-1, NT-1 and NT-2 from the tongue and buccal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), were established and characterized. The cells were polygonal in shape and grew in typical cobblestone pattern with cytokeratin expression in the cytoplasm. Colony forming efficiency in collagen gel was 20-98% and the cell lines were hypotetraploid. The cell motility assay demonstrated that the migration activity of NT-1 cells was higher than that of NB-1 and NT-2 cells. NT-2 cells secreted a large amount of IL-6 and IL-8. Xenografted cells formed tumors in all nude mice examined. Metastasis to the cervical lymph nodes was demonstrated in some mice that received cell inoculation in the tongue. There was no remarkable difference in three cell lines as to the tumor cell proliferation activity in terms of PCNA immunohistochemical staining.
