ESTROGEN PRODUCTION BY AN ESTABLISHED CELL-LINE FROM PULMONARY SMALL CELL ANAPLASTIC CARCINOMA

Radioimmunoassays demonstrated the presence of estradiol-17β in growth medium from DMS-44, a continuous cell line obtained from pulmonary small cell anaplastic carcinoma; other steroids such as testosterone and cortisol were not present in measurable amounts. To study further the ability of DMS-44 cells to produce estrogens, [3H]-testosterone or [3H]-androstenedione was incubated with cells for 24 h. [3H]-estrone and [3H]-estradiol-17β were isolated from the incubation medium by extraction. Partition and thin layer chromatography. The two estrogens were identified by chromatography after addition of authentic [14C]-estrone to the fractions presumed to contain [3H]-estrone and authentic [14C]-estradiol-17β to that of [3H]-estradiol. Estradiol-17β was favored over estrone as the main estrogen formed both from testosterone and androstenedione. The estradiol-17β fraction was repeatedly chromatographed in several thin layer Chromatographic systems, reaching constant Tritium: Carbon-14 ratio. These findings, together with the radioimmunoassay data, are considered conclusive evidence for the formation of estradiol-17β by small cell carcinoma cell lines in vitro. © 1979.