Establishment and characterization of a novel acute myeloid leukemia cell line, JIH-4, carrying a t(16;21)(p11.2;q22) and expressing the FUS-ERG fusion

Human leukemia cell lines are powerful tools in the study of leukemogenesis, particularly for rare but recurrent subtypes such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with the t(16;21)(p11.2;q22) and FUS-ERG fusion. Four AML cell lines carrying a t(16;21)(p11.2;q22) have been described previously. We report a novel AML cell line, designated JIH-4, for which karyotypic analysis demonstrated a single abnormality, t(16;21)(p11.2;q22). The FUS-ERG fusion transcript was identified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Neither Epstein-Barr virus nor mycoplasma was detected in JIH-4 cells. The morphology and immunoprofile of JIH-4 cells display typical features of myelogenous lineage, and short tandem-repeat PCR comparison with the donor patient’s bone marrow cells confirm the cell line’s authenticity. Tumor masses were found in 50% of inoculated mice 83 days after subcutaneous injection with JIH-4 cells. Our results confirm that JIH-4 cells are derived from the donor patient’s leukemia cells and support using the JIH-4 cell line as a valuable tool in the study of leukemogenesis.