Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 3, 2026

In Vitro Assays to Evaluate the Migration, Invasion, and Proliferation of Immortalized Human First-trimester Trophoblast Cell Lines
Published on: March 5, 2019
Cytogenetic features of human trophoblast cell lines SWAN-71 and 3A-subE
Jill L Reiter1, Holli M Drendel2, Sujata Chakraborty2
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 550 N. University Ave, UH 2440, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Abstract:
Immortalization of primary cells with telomerase is thought to maintain normal phenotypic properties and avoid chromosomal abnormalities and other cancer-associated changes that occur following simian virus 40 tumor antigen (SV40 Tag) induced immortalization. However, we report that the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-immortalized SWAN-71 trophoblast cell line has a near pentaploid 103∼119,XXXX[cp20] karyotype. Additionally, DNA typing analysis indicated that SWAN-71 cells have acquired microsatellite instability. In comparison, the post-crisis SV40-transformed trophoblast cell line 3A-subE was hypertriploid 69∼81,XX[cp20]. Both cell lines contained multiple specific clonal rearrangements. These findings emphasize the need to monitor for genetic instability in hTERT-immortalized cells.

