Establishment and characterization of novel human primary endometrial cancer cell line (ZJB-ENC1) and its genomic characteristic

The establishment of human malignant tumor cell lines can provide abundant experimental materials for understanding the biological characteristics of tumors, studying the carcinogenesis, molecular genetics and the mechanism of metastasis and evolution. In this study, a novel cell line designated ZJB-ENC1 has been established from poorly differentiated endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Cytological results showed monolayer-cultured cells were polygonal in shape and a piling-up tendency without contact inhabitation. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the cells were negative for ER, PR, c-erbB2, E-CAD, CD117, and OCT3/4, but strongly positive for PTEN and P16. Meanwhile, the tumorigenicity of ZJB-ENC1 was confirmed by subcutaneous transplantation of the cells into a xenograft mouse model. In addition, the results of the whole exome sequencing revealed a unique genomic characteristic of ZJB-ENC1 cells, all common and novel SNPs and InDels were identified. In conclusion, this new stable cell line may promote basic and clinical research on endometrial cancer (EC).