The costs of using unauthenticated, over-passaged cell lines: how much more data do we need?

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Research Integrity

Background:

• Cell line misidentification and cross-contamination have been documented since the 1950s.
• An estimated 18-36% of cell lines in major repositories are contaminated or misidentified.
• Over-subculturing (high-passage levels) alters cell line function, compromising their reliability as models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the impact of cell line integrity on research outcomes.
• To emphasize the need for verified, low-passage cell lines.
• To advocate for increased diligence in cell culture practices within the scientific community.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cell line contamination and passage levels.
• Analysis of data from major cell repositories.
• Examination of studies demonstrating experimental variance due to cell line issues.

Main Results:

• Cellular cross-contamination, misidentification, and high-passage cultures generate erroneous results.
• High-passage cell lines exhibit altered functions, failing to represent original source material.
• Significant experimental variances are observed between low- and high-passage, or contaminated, cell cultures.

Conclusions:

• Verified, low-passage cell lines are essential for reliable and reproducible research.
• The scientific community must ensure cell culture integrity in the absence of strict guidelines.
• Due diligence in cell line validation is critical to prevent wasted research funds and misleading data.