A Combination of Species Identification and STR Profiling Identifies Cross-contaminated Cells from 482 Human Tumor Cell Lines
Open accessAbstract
Human tumor cell lines are extremely important tools for cancer research, but a significant percentage is cross-contaminated with other cells. Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is the prevailing standard for authenticating cell lines that originate from human tissues. Based on the analysis of 482 different human tumor cell lines used in China by STR, up to 96 cell lines were misidentified. More importantly, the study has found that STR profiling alone is insufficient to exclude inter-species cross-contamination of human cell lines. Among the 386 cell lines which had a correct STR profile, 3 of them were inter-species cross-contaminated. Careful microscopic examination may be helpful in some cases to detect changes in morphology but additional testing is needed. Additionally, species verification by PCR could easily identify the contaminants, even with a low percentage of contaminating cells. Combining STR profiling with species identification by PCR, more than 20.5% (99/482) of tumor cell lines were revealed as having been incorrectly identified, including intra-species (14.5%), inter-species (4.4%) cross-contamination and contaminating cell lines (1.7%). Therefore, quality control of cell lines is a systemic issue. Each cell line should undergo a full QA (Quality Assurance) assessment before it is used for research.
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A 2017 review of 482 human tumor cell lines used in China showed a total 20.5% CCCM rate, the majority of which was intraspecies contamination.
“A 2017 review of 482 human tumor cell lines used in China showed a total 20.5% CCCM rate, the majority of which was intraspecies contamination [124].”
From The history, landscape, and outlook of human cell line authentication and security (2024) · cites this paper as [124]
In 185/420 (44%) papers, all eight non-verifiable identifiers could represent misspellings of similarly named cell lines, which were typically HeLa-contaminated cancer cell lines.
“This revealed that in 185/420 (44%) papers, all 8 NV identifiers could represent misspellings of similarly named cell lines, which were typically HeLa-contaminated cancer cell lines (38–41).”
From Misspellings or “miscellings”—Non‐verifiable and unknown cell lines in cancer research publications (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
Two non-verifiable identifiers, BGC-803 and BSG-823, were recognized misspellings of the contaminated cell lines BGC-823 or MGC-803.
“Two NV identifiers (BGC-803, BSG-823) were recognized misspellings (26) of the contaminated cell lines BGC-823 or MGC-803 (38–41)”
From Misspellings or “miscellings”—Non‐verifiable and unknown cell lines in cancer research publications (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
Studies that reported STR profiles for similarly named contaminated lines did not describe these NV cell lines.
“These NV cell lines were also not described by studies describing STR profiles for similarly named contaminated cell lines (38–41).”
From Misspellings or “miscellings”—Non‐verifiable and unknown cell lines in cancer research publications (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
Three NV lines-BGC-803, GSE-1 and MGC-823-were reported as obtained from the China Center for Type Culture Collection.
“and 3 NV cell lines (BGC-803, GSE-1, MGC-823) were described as sourced from the China Center for Type Culture Collection (38–41).”
From Misspellings or “miscellings”—Non‐verifiable and unknown cell lines in cancer research publications (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
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- Authors
- Bian, X., Yang, Z., Feng, H., Sun, H., & Liu, Y.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Yuqin
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2017-08-29
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9774-9774
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5575032
- OpenAlex
- W2748180020
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 1.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Identification and Quantification in Food
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in Insects
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- human cancer cell lines, cell line authentication, cross-contamination, species identification, short tandem repeat profiling, cell line quality control, contamination detection, microscopic examination
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Neoplasms, Species Specificity, Microsatellite Repeats, Cell Line, Tumor
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