A number of human cell lines derived from alveolar or embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) have been described. To our knowledge, however, no cell line established from pleomorphic RMS has been reported. We describe here the establishment and characterization of a new human cell line, HS-RMS-1, which originated from a typical pleomorphic RMS arising in the gluteal muscle of a 26-year-old man. HS-RMS-1 cells had pseudotetraploid complex karyotypes with no specific abnormalities. Both in vitro and in vivo the cells on light microscopic examination exhibited pleomorphic features with immunopositive reaction for myogenic antigens including MyoD1 and myogenin, although no Z band-like structures were detected electron-microscopically. RT-PCR demonstrated the expression of MyoD1 and myogenin in HS-RMS-1 cells at the mRNA level, and direct sequencing analysis revealed cDNAs of MyoD1 and myogenin identical to those previously reported. This cell line, HS-RMS-1, established from pleomophic RMS will be useful for further studies including the molecular aspects of human RMS.

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