The cells have the cell surface phenotype typical of N-myc amplified NB (HLA-A,B,C negative and HSAN 1.2 positive), and similar to other NB cell lines, N-myc RNA and protein are expressed.
In contrast, three tumor types, teratocarcinoma, choriocarcinoma, and neuroblastoma, were not inducible for Ia expression, even though IFN-gamma could induce expression of HLA-A,B,C products.
Previous work showed that each of four human neuronal cell lines expresses less than or equal to 0.5% of the HLA-A,B,C and beta 2-microglobulin seen in glial, lymphoid, and other cell types, and there is a corresponding weak expression in neuroblastoma tumor and adult brain.