Establishment and characterization of a cell line, EH-GB2, derived from hepatic metastasis of gallbladder cancer.

Gallbladder cancer is a fatal neoplasia with an extremely low survival rate. Liver invasion and metastasis are the most common causes of death; however, the metastatic mechanism is still unclear, and no effective treatment methods are available. To provide comprehensive and profound approaches in investigating the metastatic mechanism and treatment methods, new cell lines derived from liver metastasis are urgently needed. A hepatic metastasis lesion was obtained from a 65-year-old patient, and was treated using a primary culture method to establish a novel gallbladder cancer cell line. Different in vitro/in vivo methods were used to characterize the phenotypes of this cell line. The gallbladder cancer cell line was named EH-GB2, with a roughly 48-h doubling time. The cell line represents stronger colony formation and migration abilities than the control group. The cells showed complicated chromosomal abnormalities. EH-GB2 cells showed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the mRNA expression levels of E-cadherin and integrin were decreased, and those of vimentin, Snail, Twist, matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-2 were increased in comparison with control cells. The in vivo study demonstrated that EH-GB2 cells show significant tumorigenicity in nude mice. The EH-GB2 established gallbladder cancer cell line is useful for future studies of gallbladder cancer development, progression, metastasis and therapy.