Rapid characterisation of cell cultures by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometric typing

Misidentification or cross-contamination of cultured cell lines used for scientific or diagnostic purposes are a continuing challenge for laboratories and tissue culture repositories. Institutions dedicated to veterinary virology are particularly affected since the variety of viruses under investigation often requires the parallel maintenance of numerous different cell lines from different host species. To provide rapid but yet exact characterisation of cell cultures, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometric typing was applied to 66 cell culture samples representing 34 species from insects to primates. A reference spectra library was generated that allows unambiguously the identification of all 66 cell lines. Spectrum-based phylogenetic analysis showed that clustering was mainly driven by taxonomy and allows the species determination of unknown samples.