Epithelio-mesenchymal transition in a neoplastic ovarian epithelial hybrid cell line.

A hybrid cell line, IOSE-Ov29, was created through fusion of cells from the human ovarian adenocarcinoma line OVCAR3 and the non-tumorigenic SV40 Tag-transfected human ovarian surface epithelial line IOSE-29. OVCAR3 cells exhibit a differentiated epithelial phenotype, whereas line IOSE-29 expresses mesenchymal characteristics that were acquired in culture by epithelio-mesenchymal transition. Microsatellite analysis, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), and MFISH showed the genotype of the IOSE-Ov29 cells to contain components of both parent cell lines, but to be predominantly OVCAR3 derived.