Abstract
During the 1950s, cross-contamination of cell lines emerged as a problem with serious consequences on the quality of biomedical research. Unfortunately, this situation has worsened over years. In this context, some actions should be urgently undertaken to avoid the generation of misleading data due to the increasingly and sometimes neglected use of cross-contaminated cell lines. Unawareness about this problem may then turn many scientists into victims or even perpetrators of this unwanted situation. Collaborative actions involving researchers, cell banks, journals, and funding agencies are needed to save the scientific reputation as well as many public or private resources that are used to produce misleading data.
Article PDF
References
Combes RD . The use of human cells in biomedical research and testing. Altern Lab Anim 2004; 32: 43–9.
Nardone RM . Eradication of cross-contaminated cell lines: A call for action. Cell Biol Toxicol 2007; 23: 367–72.
Lacroix M . Persistent use of “false” cell lines. Int J Cancer 2008; 122: 1–4.
Rothfels FH, Axelrad AA, Siminovitch L, McCulloch EA, Parker RC . The origin of altered cell lines from mouse, monkey, and man, as indicated by chromosome and transplantation studies. In: Begg RW, editor. Canadian Cancer Conference, Proceedings of the 3rd Canadian Cancer Research Conference. 1958, June 17–21, Ontario, Vol 3. New York: Academic Press Inc; 1959. p 189–214.
Gartler SM . Genetic markers as tracers in cell culture. J Natl Cancer Inst 1967; 26: 167–95.
Lavappa KS, Macy ML, Shannon JE . Examination of ATCC stocks for HeLa marker chromosomes in human cell lines. Nature 1976; 259: 211–3.
Nelson-Rees WA, Daniels DW, Flandermeyer RR . Cross-contamination of cells in culture. Science 1981; 212: 446–52.
Master JR . HeLa cell 50 years on: the good, the bad and the ugly. Nat Cancer Rev 2002; 2: 315–9.
MacLeod RAF, Dirks WG, Matsuo Y, Kaufmann M, Milch H, Drexler HG . Widespread intraspecies cross-contamination of human tumor cell lines arising at source. Intl J Cancer 1999; 83: 555–63.
Buehring GC, Elizabeth A, Michael J . Cell line cross-contamination: how aware are mammalian cell culturists of the problem and how to monitor it? In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2004; 40: 211–5.
Masters JR . DNA profiling and the authentication of cell lines. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 2005; 41: (abstract) 6A.
van Bokhoven A, Varella-Garcia M, Korch C, Hessels D, Miller GJ . Widely used prostate carcinoma cell lines share common origins. Prostate 2001; 47: 36–51.
Varella-Garcia M, Boomer T, Miller GJ . Karyotypic similarity identified by multiplex-FISH relates four prostate adenocarcinoma cell lines: PC-3, PPC-1, ALVA-31, and ALVA-41. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2001; 31: 303–15.
Iizumi T, Yazaki T, Kanoh S, Kondo I, Koiso K . Establishment of a new prostatic carcinoma cell line (TSU-Pr1). J Urol 1987; 137: 1304–6.
Muraki J, Addonizio JC, Choudhury MS, Fischer J, Eshghi M, Davidian MM, et al. Establishment of new human prostatic cancer cell line (JCA-1). Urology 1990; 36: 79–84.
van Bokhoven A, Varella-Garcia M, Korch C, Gary J . TSU-Pr1 and JCA-1 cells are derivatives of T24 bladder carcinoma cells and are not of prostatic origin. Cancer Res 2001; 61: 6340–4.
Batist G, Tulpule A, Sinha BK, Katki AG, Myers CE, Cowan KH . Overexpression of a novel anionic glutathione transferase in multidrug-resistant human breast cancer cells. J Biol Chem 1986; 261: 15544–9.
Cowan KH, Batist G, Tulpule A, Sinha BK, Myers CE . Similar biochemical changes associated with multidrug resistance in human breast cancer cells and carcinogen-induced resistance to xenobiotics in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1986; 83: 9328–32.
Monks A, Scudiero D, Skehen P, Shoemaker R, Paull K, Vistica D, et al. Feasibility of a high-flux anticancer drug screen using a diverse panel of cultured human tumor cell lines. J Natl Cancer Inst 1991; 83: 757–66.
Weinstein JN, Myers TG, O'Connor PM, Friend SH, Fornace AJ Jr, Kohn KW, et al. An information-intensive approach to the molecular pharmacology of cancer. Science 1997; 275: 343–9.
Scherf U, Ross DT, Walthan M, Smith LH, Lee JK, Tanabe L, et al. A gene expression database for the molecular pharmacology of cancer. Nat Genet 2000; 24: 236–44.
Nishizuka S, Charboneau L, Young L, Major S, Reinhold WC, Waltham M, et al. Proteomic profiling of the NCI-60 cancer cell lines using new high-density reverse-phase lysate microarrays. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100: 14229–34.
Scudiero DA, Monks A, Sausville EA . Cell line designation change: multidrug-resistant cell line in the NCI anticancer screen. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998; 90: 862.
Liscovitch M, Ravid D . A case study in misidentification of cancer cell lines: MCF-7/AdrR cells (re-designated NCI/ADR-RES) are derived from OVCAR–8 human ovarian carcinoma cells. Cancer Lett 2007; 245: 350–2.
Drexler HG, Dirks, WG, Matsuo Y, MacLeod RAF . False leukemia-lymphoma cell lines: an update on over 500 cell lines. Leukemia 2003; 17: 416–26.
Pries AR, Kuebler WM . Normal endothelium. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2006; 176: 1–40.
Rojas A, Morales MA . Nitric oxide, an iceberg in cardiovascular physiology: far beyond vessel tone control. Arch Med Res 2004; 35: 1–11.
Takahashi K, Sawasaki Y, Hata J, Mukai K, Goto T . Spontaneous transformation and immortalization of human endothelial cells. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 1990; 26: 265–74.
Takahashi K, Sawasaki Y . Rare spontaneously transformed human endothelial cell line provides useful research tool. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 1992; 28A: 380–2.
Dirks WG, MacLeod RA, Drexler HG . ECV304 (endothelial) is really T24 (bladder carcinoma): cell line cross-contamination at source. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 1999; 35: 558–9.
Rojas A, González I, Figueroa H . Letter to the Editor: Use and misuse of ECV-304 cell line. Eur J Neurol 2008; 15: e8.
Suda K, Rothen-Rutishauser B, Günthert M, Wunderli-Allenspach H . Phenotypic characterization of human umbilical vein endot-helial (ECV304) and urinary carcinoma (T24) cells: endothelial versus epithelial features. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2001; 37: 505–14.
Master JR . False cell lines: the problem and a solution. Cyto-technology 2002; 39: 69–74.
Nims RW, Shoemaker AP, Bauernschub MA, Rec LJ, Harbell JW . Sensitivity of isoenzyme analysis for the detection of interspecies cell line cross-contamination. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 1998; 34: 35–9.
Rush LJ, Heinonen K, Mrózek K, Wolf BJ, Abdel-Rahman M, Szymanska J, et al. Comprehensive cytogenetic and molecular genetic characterization of the TI-1 acute myeloid leukemia cell line reveals cross-contamination with K-562 cell line. Blood 2002; 99: 1874–6.
O'Toole CM, Povey S, Hepburn P, Franks LM . Identity of some human bladder cancer cell lines. Nature 1983; 301: 429–30.
Quentmeier H, Osborn M, Reinhardt J, Zaborski M, Drexler HG . Immunocytochemical analysis of cell lines derived from solid tumors. J Histochem Cytochem 2001; 49: 1369–78.
Gilbert DA, Reid YA, Gail MH, Pee D, White C, Hay RJ, et al. Application of DNA fingerprints for cell-line individualization. Am J Hum Genet 1990; 47: 499–514.
Yoshino K, Iimura J, Saijo K, Iwase S, Fukami K, Ohno T, et al. Essential role for gene profiling analysis in the authentication of human cell lines. Human Cell 2006; 19: 43–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rojas, A., Gonzalez, I. & Figueroa, H. Cell line cross-contamination in biomedical research: a call to prevent unawareness. Acta Pharmacol Sin 29, 877–880 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00809.x
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00809.x
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Identification of cross-contamination in SH-SY5Y cell line
Human Cell (2014)
-
Drug Delivery Characteristics of the Progenitor Bronchial Epithelial Cell Line VA10
Pharmaceutical Research (2013)
-
Misidentification of OLGA-PH-J/92, believed to be the only crustacean cell line
In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Animal (2011)
-
Does telomerase reverse transcriptase induce functional de-differentiation of human endothelial cells?
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2010)