BRL Cells

The Buffalo Rat Liver (BRL) cell line, a spontaneously immortalized lineage from Buffalo rat liver tissue, holds significant value due to its retention of pluripotency and karyotypic normality akin to embryonic stem (ES) cells. BRL cells produce a conditioned medium (BRL-CM) that has a unique application in stem cell biology; it inhibits the differentiation of established embryonal carcinoma (EC) and ES cell lines. This property allows for the maintenance of these stem cells in an undifferentiated state without the need for feeder cells, although this support is only viable for a finite period, highlighting a limitation in the utility of BRL-CM in long-term stem cell culture. Furthermore, the BRL cell line provides an interesting model for studying the impact of genetic modifications on cell behavior, illustrated by the differential response of normal versus Ha-ras-1 transformed BRL cells to cytoskeletal inhibitors. Transformation with the Ha-ras-1 oncogene not only modifies cellular responses but also enhances the stability of microfilaments and microtubules, consequently altering the cell's structural integrity. These findings emphasize the potential role of the cytoskeleton in maintaining cell shape and pluripotency, which is pivotal in both normal physiology and disease states involving cellular transformation and differentiation.