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Identity tests: determination of cell line cross-contamination

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Abstract

Cell line cross-contamination is a phenomenon that arises as a result of the continuous cell line culture. It has been estimated that around 20% of the cell lines are misidentified, therefore it is necessary to carry out quality control tests for the detection of this issue. Since cell line cross-contamination discovery, different methods have been applied, such as isoenzyme analysis for inter-species cross-contamination; HLA typing, and DNA fingerprinting using short tandem repeat and a variable number of tandem repeat for intra-species cross-contamination. The cell banks in this sense represent the organizations responsible for guaranteeing the authenticity of cell lines for future research and clinical uses.

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Abbreviations

AFLP:

Amplified fragment length polymorphism

MCB:

Master cell bank

STR:

Short tandem repeat

SBT:

Sequence based typing

SSO:

Sequence specific oligonucleotide

SSOP:

Sequence specific oligonucleotide probe

VNTR:

Variable number tandem repeat

WCB:

Working cell bank

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Angela Barnie for checking the use of English in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stem Cell Bank of Andalucia (Spanish Central Node), Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Avenida de las Fuerzas Armadas No. 2, 18014, Granada, Spain

    C. M. Cabrera, F. Cobo, A. Nieto, J. L. Cortés, R. M. Montes, P. Catalina & A. Concha

Authors
  1. C. M. Cabrera
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  2. F. Cobo
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  3. A. Nieto
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  4. J. L. Cortés
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  5. R. M. Montes
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  6. P. Catalina
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  7. A. Concha
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. M. Cabrera.

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Cabrera, C.M., Cobo, F., Nieto, A. et al. Identity tests: determination of cell line cross-contamination. Cytotechnology 51, 45–50 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-006-9013-8

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