Origin of the U87MG glioma cell line: Good news and bad news
Science Translational Medicine
31 Aug 2016
Vol 8, Issue 354
p. 354re3
U87MG: Not what it used to be
A cell line commonly used for research on gliomas is found to be different from the original tumor from which it was derived. The authors, whose laboratory developed the cell line almost 50 years ago, compared the genetics of this line (obtained from ATCC) with those of the original tumor. They report that the DNA profile of the current cell line differs from that of the original cells but that it is likely to be a human glioblastoma cell line with unknown origins. This misidentification of a widely studied cell line reinforces the need for researchers to carefully validate the cell lines used in their research.
Abstract
Human tumor–derived cell lines are indispensable tools for basic and translational oncology. They have an infinite life span and are easy to handle and scalable, and results can be obtained with high reproducibility. However, a tumor-derived cell line may not be authentic to the tumor of origin. Two major questions emerge: Have the identity of the donor and the actual tumor origin of the cell line been accurately determined? To what extent does the cell line reflect the phenotype of the tumor type of origin? The importance of these questions is greatest in translational research. We have examined these questions using genetic profiling and transcriptome analysis in human glioma cell lines. We find that the DNA profile of the widely used glioma cell line U87MG is different from that of the original cells and that it is likely to be a bona fide human glioblastoma cell line of unknown origin.
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Supplementary Material
Summary
Table S1. STR analysis of the Uppsala collection of glioblastoma cell lines.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science Translational Medicine
Volume 8 | Issue 354
August 2016
August 2016
Copyright
Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 17 March 2016
Accepted: 11 July 2016
Acknowledgments
We thank M. Kastemar for technical help. Funding: This study was supported by the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, and the Swedish strategic research program “eSSENCE.” Author contributions: M.A., M.B., and H.E. performed DNA extraction from FFPE material, STR analysis, mtDNA analysis, and interpretation of data. S.N. performed the mRNA expression analysis and computational analysis. B.W. conceived the study and was responsible for the establishment and culture of human glioma cells. The manuscript was written by M.A., S.N., and B.W. All authors read and approved the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data not in the paper and the cell lines are available from the authors upon request.
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