Immortalization of chinchilla middle ear epithelial cells by adenovirus 12-simian virus 40 hybrid virus.

In order to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of otitis media, a chinchilla middle ear epithelial cell line (CMEE-1) with differentiated cell characteristics was established by infection of a primary culture with the adenovirus 12-simian virus 40 (Ad12-SV40) hybrid. This cell line has been in continuous culture for 42 passages, whereas the parent cells underwent senescence and died at the 8th passage. The cell line also retains epithelial morphology and expresses cytokeratin polypeptides 4, 7, and 18, characteristic markers for epithelia. In Western blots of cell proteins, bands at 94 and 53 kd were labeled after binding antibodies against SV40 large T antigen and p53, respectively. Karyotype analysis showed that the cell line is derived from chinchilla epithelial cells. These findings confirm that the cell line is a chinchilla epithelial cell immortalized by the hybrid virus.