P19 (Embryonal carcinoma, mouse)

Passage Frozen: Unknown. Current medium for propagation: Alpha MEM, 90%; FBS, 2.5%; calf serum, 7.5%. Additional Information: The P19, initiated by McBurney, et al., is a euploid (40:XY) teratocarcinoma cell line derived from an embryonal carcinoma induced in a C3H/He strain mouse. In contrast to many of the embryonal carcinoma cell lines, P19 can be cloned at high efficiency in medium containing 10-4 M beta-mercaptoethanol. These pluripotent cells, which differentiate poorly under normal culture conditions, can be induced to differentiate into neuronal and glial cells in the presence of retinoic acid. In the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) aggregates of P19 cells differentiate rapidly to form large amounts of cardiac and skeletal muscle but no neurons or glia. Cultures exposed to both retinoic acid (5 X 10-7 M) and DMSO (0.5 or 1.0%) developed as if exposed only to retinoic acid. References: Dev. Biol. 89: 503-508, 1982; J. Cell Biol. 94: 253-262, 1982; Nature (Lond.) 299: 165-167, 1982. Submitted by: M.W. McBurney, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Price Code: J