WR21 cells were cultured from a salivary tumor taken from an adult male wap-ras subline 69=2 transgenic mouse in the fall of 1989. These mice express an activated human c-Ha-ras gene and develop adenocarcinomas arising from the submandibular gland and/or mammary progenitor cells by one year of age. Subline 69-2 has a random bred genetic background of two inbred mouse strains, C57BL/6 and SJL. The cells were subcloned in 1990. It is impossible to ascertain the original cell type with any certainty. They express fibronectin and vimentin but not cytokeratin or desmin. WR21 cells have an activated human Ha-ras oncogene on the Y chromosome and express Asp-12 mutant ras protein. In nude mice with WR21 tumors, approximately 90% had lung metastases by the fifth week of tumor growth, but no tumors metastasized to the salivary gland. WR21 tumor growth was inhibited by cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin, mitomycin C and actinomycin D but not methotrexate. |
