Discovery of HeLa Cell Contamination in HES Cells: Call for Cell Line Authentication in Reproductive Biology Research
Open accessAbstract
Continuous cell lines are used frequently in reproductive biology research to study problems in early pregnancy events and parturition. It has been recognized for 50 years that many mammalian cell lines contain inter- or intraspecies contaminations with other cells. However, most investigators do not routinely test their culture systems for cross-contamination. The most frequent contributor to cross-contamination of cell lines is the HeLa cell isolated from an aggressive cervical adenocarcinoma. We report on the discovery of HeLa cell contamination of the human endometrial epithelial cell line HES isolated in our laboratory. Short tandem repeat analysis of 9 unique genetic loci demonstrated molecular identity between HES and HeLa cells. In addition, we verified that WISH cells, isolated originally from human amnion epithelium, were also contaminated with HeLa cells. Inasmuch as our laboratory did not culture HeLa cells at the time of HES cell derivations, the source of contamination was the WISH cell line. These data highlight the need for continued diligence in authenticating cell lines used in reproductive biology research.
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WISH was on the panel of cell models for differentiation in these institutions under its false identity as an amnion cell line of human origin.
“WISH, which has been reported as a HeLa contaminant for decades [37], was also on the panel of cell models for differentiation [38] in these institutions under its false identity-amnion cell line of human origin.”
From Investigation of Cross-Contamination and Misidentification of 278 Widely Used Tumor Cell Lines (2017) · cites this paper as [37]
The Introduction and Discussion (page numbers unavailable) identify WISH as an amnion-derived cell line contaminated with HeLa and report its use in reproductive-biology research. They do not say WISH was on a panel of models for differentiation at the institutions described in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWISH has been reported as a HeLa contaminant for decades.
“WISH, which has been reported as a HeLa contaminant for decades [37], was also on the panel of cell models for differentiation [38] in these institutions under its false identity-amnion cell line of human origin.”
From Investigation of Cross-Contamination and Misidentification of 278 Widely Used Tumor Cell Lines (2017) · cites this paper as [37]
The Introduction and Discussion identify WISH as a cell line known to be contaminated with HeLa, and the paper reports confirming that contamination. The Discussion says HeLa contamination of cell lines has been reported for nearly 50 years, but it does not establish that WISH specifically had been reported as contaminated for decades; no page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSTR-based detection found HeLa contamination in the human endometrial cell line HES.
“A striking example is the STR-based detection of HeLa contamination in the human endometrial cell line HES, highlighting the risk of secondary contamination [32,33].”
From The history, landscape, and outlook of human cell line authentication and security (2024) · cites this paper as [32]
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- Authors
- Kniss, D. A., & Summerfield, T. L.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kniss, Douglas A.
- ORCID
- Kniss, Douglas A.
- Venue
- Reproductive Sciences
- Published
- 2014-08
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1015-1019
- ISSN
- 1933-7191 (ISSN-L)
- 1933-7205
- PMC
- PMC4126216
- OpenAlex
- W2063792540
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Reproductive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Topics
- 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 › Pluripotent Stem Cells Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Animal Genetics and Reproduction
- Keywords
- cell line authentication, short tandem repeat profiling, cell line cross-contamination, immortalized cell lines
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