Leukemia Research 28 (2004) 509–515 New cytokine-dependent acute myeloid leukemia cell line MUTZ-11 with disomic chromosome rearrangement t(16;17) Zhen-Bo Hu a , Hilmar Quentmeier b , Corinna Meyer b , Maren Kaufmann b , Roderick A.F. MacLeod b , Hans G. Drexler b,∗ a Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA b DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Mascheroder Weg 1 B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany Received 28 July 2003; accepted 30 September 2003 Abstract Continuous human leukemia–lymphoma (LL) cell lines represent a rich resource of abundant, accessible and manipulable living cells contributing significantly to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of hematopoietic tumors. In particular, classical and molecular cytogenetics have benefitted enormously from the availability of LL cell lines with specific chromosomal abnormalities. Such aberrations may be the portal to the discovery of novel oncogene rearrangements for which positive cell lines provide a resource for both discovery and functional studies. The new continuous leukemia cell line MUTZ-11 was established in 1994 from the peripheral blood of a 60-year-old woman with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) M4 (following 2 years with myelodysplastic syndromes). DNA fingerprinting confirmed the authenticity and derivation of the cell line. The immunoprofile as determined by flow cytometry was as follows: positive for myelocytic markers (CD13, CD15, CD33, CD65 and CD68), negative for T-cell (except for CD4 and CD7), B-cell and erythroid-megakaryocytic markers. The cell line is constitutively cytokine-dependent and growth depends on externally added cytokines. With regard to cytokine receptor expression, the cell line was found to be positive for GM-CSFR (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor, CD116), Kit (CD117) and IL-3R (interleukin-3 receptor, CD123). The cytokine response profiles as determined by [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation assay were: 2-to-12 fold growth stimulation of MUTZ-11 by GM-CSF, IFN- (interferon), IFN-, IFN-, IL-3 and SCF (stem cell factor); growth inhibition by TGF-1 (transforming growth factor), TNF- (tumor necrosis factor) and TNF-. Cytogenetic analysis showed the following consensus karyotype: 46, XX, der(16)t(16;17)(p13.3;q23)x2. Previous molecular biological analysis documented that MUTZ-11 cells carry both an FLT3 internal tandem duplication (ITD) and an MLL partial tandem duplication (PTD). The scientific significance of MUTZ-11 lies (i) in the absolute cytokine-dependency and the proliferative response to various cytokines, (ii) in the unique cytogenetic (disomic t(16;17)) and (iii) molecular biological alterations (FLT3 ITD + MLL PTD). In summary, the new cytokine-dependent AML-derived cell line MUTZ-11 displays unique novel features and emphasizes the need for comprehensive analysis of new LL cell lines which may lead to the discovery of important pathogenetic alterations. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: AML; Cell lines; Cytokines; Leukemia 1. Introduction The availability of continuous human leukemia–lym- phoma (LL) cell lines holds great promise for furthering our understanding of the pathobiology of these devastating diseases. These LL cell lines comprise a rich self-renewing resource of accessible and manipulable living cells [1]. The major key advantages of continuous cell lines are the un- limited supply and worldwide availability of identical cell material and their cryopreservation. LL cell lines are char- ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-531-2616-160; fax: +49-531-2616-150. E-mail address: hdr@dsmz.de (H.G. Drexler). acterized generally by monoclonal origin and differentiation arrest, sustained proliferation in vitro with preservation of most cellular features, and specific genetic alterations [2]. In particular, classical and molecular cytogenetics have benefitted greatly from the spectrum of available LL cell lines. The detailed analysis of recurrent chromosome rear- rangements in LL cell lines has presented unique opportu- nities to the discovery of novel oncogene rearrangements and of the resulting pathogenetic effects. Indeed, many cell lines have been instrumental in the cytogenetic detection of specific alterations and cloning of the genes involved (for a detailed review, see [3]). Because fusion gene transloca- tions are stable in vitro, cell lines carrying them are widely used as sources of RNA/DNA for positive controls in PCR 0145-2126/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.leukres.2003.09.013