A human colon carcinoma cell line designated OUMS-23 has been established from metastatic pericardial fluid of a male familial adenomatous polyposis patient with colon cancer. Since 1984, the epithelial cells have been maintained in culture. Ultrastructural studies revealed the presence of numerous microvilli on the cell surface and desmosomes between the adjacent cells. The cells secreted carcinoembryonic antigen into the culture medium (15 ng/10(6) cells-1 24 h-1). The cells expressed heat-stable placental-type-like alkaline phosphatase, whereas the normal counterparts expressed tissue-unspecific alkaline phosphatase. Karyotypic analysis showed that the cell line was of human origin and that the chromosome number was broadly distributed between 53 and 118. Southern blot analysis of the APC gene revealed no abnormalities in OUMS-24 cells, while Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the expression of the gene was about one-half that of the normal human fibroblasts. No mutations at the "hot spots" of codons 12 and 61 of H-, K- and N-ras proto-oncogenes were detected in the cells. The cells could grow in soft agar at a cloning efficiency of 6.5%, and upon transplantation into nude mice the cells formed tumors, which were diagnosed as differentiated adenocarcinoma.