Ein invasives Neoplasma aus embryonalen Zellen von Drosophila melanogaster in Dauerkultur in vivo

An invasive neoplasm from embryonic cells of Drosophila melanogaster cultured permanently in vivo The neoplasm H 126, obtained from the posterior half of a 6 ± 1-h-old embryo of Drosophila melanogaster, was cultivated in adult female flies over more than 120 transfer generations (more than 4 years). Four sub-lines were derived from it. The neoplasm H 126 invades the ovaries of the host flies, whereas the intestinal tract and the fat body are only surrounded very tightly, but not invaded by these abnormal cells. The neoplasm is lethal to the host 8–14 days after implantation into the abdomen (cultivation temperature: 25 °C). Egg deposition of neoplasm-bearing hosts decreases 5 days after abdominal implantation. After 4 years of cultivation the sub-lines differ specifically from one another in their chromosomal content; however, all of them show a karyotype near tetraploidy. Ultrastructural features of these neoplasm cells are: (a) the nearly complete absence of membrane specializations correlated with weak cell adhesion, (b) the abundance of cytoplasmic processes and (c) 36 nm virus-like particles in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm. Invasiveness, alterations of the karyotype, the origin of the neoplasm H 126, and the presence of virus-like particles are discussed.